Within the framework of the bilateral agreement for the launch of the Brazil-Argentina Passport for Funds Project, the Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, held a meeting with the President of the Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission (CNV, for its acronym in Spanish), Marcos Ayerra; and the President of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM, for its acronym in Portuguese), Marcelo Barbosa.

The Board of Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), member of the World Bank Group, approved a new USD 150-million loan aimed at the “Integrated Risk Management in the Rural Agroindustrial System Project”. The credit will have a 32-year maturity period, a 7.5-year grace period and a USD 37.5-million contribution by the National Government.

After the approval of the loan, the Minister of Finance Luis Caputo said: “This financing will facilitate risk mitigation for 20,000 small agricultural producers, increasing resilience in the face of climate events like draughts and floods”. Mr. Minister also highlighted: “This project is yet another demonstration of the confidence multilateral credit organizations have in Argentina”.

This way, the Project will develop and improve IT to strengthen agricultural-climate in formation systems and to improve commodities prices in the market. In this sense, the project will allow the interconnection of information systems of the Ministry of Agroindustry with other public and private organizations for producers to make decisions based on more accurate information. Likewise, the Project will include the improvement of access to risk information, adoption of climate-smart technologies and risk management practices, as well as a reform of the agricultural emergency system of the Ministry.

“As a long-term partner for Argentina, the World Bank reaffirms its commitment to the equitable development of the country with this new project focused on the most vulnerable rural producers. This initiative will contribute to a more resilient food system and to reducing the climate footprint of the agricultural sector,” said Jesko Hentschel, World Bank Director for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The benefits of the Project will directly reach 20,000 small producers, 20% will be women. In addition, the indirect benefits will reach public institutions, enterprises and workers related between them along the value chain. The Project will also help the country with its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: it estimates a reduction of approximately 360,000 tons of CO2.

To date, public policies and programs for agricultural-emergencies management have focused on the recovery instead of the prevention and reduction of impact. This project will support the Government in its goal towards an integrated system of risk management. Improving risk management among small agricultural producers, the Project will contribute to the reduction of poverty, a better and more efficient agricultural production, as well as fiscal savings resulting from the reduction of costs of emergency assistance and recovery.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated this afternoon in the Business Future of the Americas, an event organized by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States in Argentina (AmCham) within the framework of the organization 100th Anniversary.

Caputo talked at the panel “Argentina, a sustainable country”, and he described the recent critical situation of the market: “In such situations, we must show anticipation, determination and conviction”. And he added: “For that reason, at the beginning of the year we financed the 75% of our needs and we have complied with a big part of the financial program”.

Likewise, the Minister of Finance explained the reasons to resort to the International Monetary Fund (IMF): “The reason we are resorting to the IMF is responsibility. In Argentina, it is uncommon to anticipate to problems. We have to provide certainty to the people and to the markets. We will have financing, regardless of what happens in the world and at the best rates”, Mr. Minister highlighted.

In addition, Caputo mentioned the measures taken by the Government to guarantee the future of investments: “We have to continue with the path taken since President Macri took office, we have to strengthen the institutions and we have to meet the targets of our economic plan: providing certainties and guaranteeing we continue in this path”.

“The earlier uncertainties are removed, the lower impact will we have in the real economy. The reaction capacity is what investors and businessmen value”, Caputo highlighted.

Finally, the Minister of Finance talked about the success of the Public-Private Partnership scheme (PPP) and he highlighted that it is “incredible news”, which shows that “whenever Argentineans act with professionalism and transparency, it works”.

AmCham Argentina – the Chamber of Commerce of the United States in Argentina – is a non-governmental, independent and nonprofit organization, which has been working for 100 years to promote bilateral trade and investment between the United States and Argentina.

“Business Future of the Americas” is the main annual event of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latina America and the Caribean (AACCLA), which aims to be a platform for regional dialogue to discuss the main challenges and opportunities for hemispheric integration. It will bring together for the very first time in Argentina business executives, political leaders, and the leadership of the 24 American Chambers of Commerce.

The Board of Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), one of the five organizations that are part of the World Bank Group, approved a USD 300-million loan aimed at the Project: “Support for an Effective Universal Health Coverage in Argentina”.

“The loan represents the confidence Argentina has achieved before multilateral credit organizations since the beginning of President Mauricio Macri’s Administration”, the Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, said. Accordingly, Mr. Minister added: “Financing will enable to extend health coverage to the most vulnerable sectors”.

The Project will extend health services coverage for the population under 65 without formal health insurance. In addition, the Program will improve the capacity of the National and the Provincial Ministries of Health to implement mechanisms of provision of services.

Likewise, the National Government will inject USD 358.05 million in the Project, which will finance capitation payments (fixed value per patient) for the provision of certain general and highly complex health benefits in public healthcare systems.

The initiative will also improve the institutional capacity of the National and Provincial Ministries of Health, increasing the coordination between them and the efficiency in the use of the public resources allocated for the provision of health services for low-income population.

This project will enable the access to technical assistance, medical equipment and IT services, improving the effective and equitable access for the beneficiaries of the public health system, representing 14.9 million people (7.5 million of them are women).

Health indices in Argentina have substantially improved compared with past decades, particularly for maternal and child health and, in certain way, for non-communicable diseases. However, and due to inefficiencies in health expenditure, some indices are lower than in other countries with similar or even lower per capita income.

There are still inequalities among the different population groups and geographic regions of the country, with unequal results both in quality and in access-possibility among the Provinces, mainly in the Northeast and Northwest regions of the country, where indigenous populations live.

Said inefficiencies and inequalities arise partly from the highly fragmented nature of the health system. Thus, the Project will reinforce the Universal Health Coverage fostered by the Government with particular focus on the population without formal health insurance and the coordination between the Ministries of Health in order to make a more efficient use of the resources.