The Minister of Treasury of the Argentine Republic, Hernán Lacunza, participated today in the 60th anniversary of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the city of Washington DC.

At the meeting of the IDB Governors, Mr. Minister said: “In a region characterized by instability, the 60 years of the IDB are an example of institutionality for the region. We have to use this institutionality to reduce the persistent poverty in Latin America”.

“For Argentina, particularly, the IDB has been an invaluable support, especially important at a time when private credit – typically procyclical – turned its back on us, fulfilling the countercyclical role of a development bank, and financing social infrastructure to mitigate structural poverty.”

“At the beginning of the century Enrique Iglesias was encouraged to finance the food and health emergency. President Moreno knows how to distinguish a temporary turbulence from the permanent pillars associated with sustained growth: financing for hundreds of km of roads, thousands of homes with drinking water and sewers, hydraulic works to avoid thousands of flooded hectares and flooded homes, “Lacunza said in his speech.

“The IDB also knows that the healthy and rapid overcoming of financial tensions associated with electoral uncertainty will not be dissociated from the financial support capacity of international organizations. The ratification of long-term financial support programs for infrastructure and social programs proves this,” Lacunza concluded, at the Ronald Reagan Building – International Trade Center.

The Minister of Treasury, Hernán Lacunza, the Governor of Entre Ríos, Gustavo Bordet, and the manager of the Southern Cone Country Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), José Luis Lupo, signed the loan and guarantee agreement for USD 50 million for the Salto Grande Region Development and Integration Project.

The resources will be allocated for the integration of the binational region of Salto Grande (Argentina-Uruguay), through the strengthening of the binational value chains in tourism and agribusiness, and the logistics of the border crossing of Salto Grande Bridge.

Specifically, with this loan, the Comodoro Pierrestegui Airport of the City of Concordia will be renovated and the design and implementation of the export and investment promotion agency in the Province will be financed. This agency will include a multi-sectoral fund to boost business development in the region. Additionally, the loan will contribute to generate a Border Facilitation Card (TFF, for its acronym in Spanish) system for tourism operators, and to incorporate technological equipment for the Concordia – Salto Border Center.

The Program will benefit the population and productive sectors of the Departments of Concordia, Federacion and Santa Ana of the Province of Entre Ríos with a new transport service and the speeding up of the border crossing. In turn, the Program will benefit 1,888 companies in the tourism sector and about 4,000 producers in Concordia, Federacion and Colón.

This operation is the result of the coordinated work between the Under-secretariat of International Financial Relations of the Ministry of Treasury, the provincial authorities and IDB officials. The main objective is to reduce socioeconomic imbalances and thus move towards a more sustainable and federal country.

The Minister of Treasury, Hernán Lacunza, and the President of the Financial Fund for the Development of the River Plate Basin (FONPLATA), Juan Notaro, signed this afternoon a loan agreement for USD 120 million that will be used to improve the economic and social infrastructure of The Argentine provinces.

These funds will allow the development of works to improve the road traffic and will finance the construction and expansion of hospital centers. In this way, the project aims to consolidate a harmonious and inclusive development through the financing of labor-intensive projects that promote regional integration.

The Program is part of the capital increase project of the Federal Trust Fund for Regional Infrastructure (FFFIR, for its acronym in Spanish), structured with resources from FONPLATA, the Latin America Development Bank (CAF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), amounting to USD 1 billion.

Likewise, the parties celebrated the recent subscription of the USD 30 million financing for the second stage of the Trypanosoma Cruzi Transmission Disruption and Chagas Disease Control in Argentina project. Its objective is to consolidate the achievements made in the first stage and contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality due to Chagas. The project is part of the national strategy of Universal Health Coverage (CUS, for its acronym in Spanish), and will positively impact on the population of the 19 jurisdictions with historical presence of the vector through access to comprehensive health and disease prevention services.

The operations are the result of the joint work of the Under-secretariat of International Financial Relations, in charge of Martín Soto, and FONPLATA officials who, with the technical support of their teams, structured the financing.

FONPLATA’s mission is to support the integration of its member countries to achieve a harmonious and inclusive development, contributing to reduce socio-economic inequalities, with the aim of achieving a better insertion in the region and in the global market

The World Bank approved additional financing for USD 245 million for the Sustainable Development of the Matanza Riachuelo Basin II project, and USD 150 million for the Province of Buenos Aires for the Support for the transition of the Electric Social Rate program.

The works will directly benefit 2.4 million citizens in the 14 districts in the basin, and 1.2 million people living along the River Plate. Indirect beneficiaries amount to 10 million inhabitants who will achieve a correct and safe sewage discharge, by expanding the capacity of the collecting system.

The Project will benefit the area of ​​the AySA concession, which includes the City of Buenos Aires and 26 Districts of Greater Buenos Aires, and will contribute to the fulfillment of the goals of the National Plan for Drinking Water and Sanitation to reach levels of 100% coverage in drinking water and 75% in sewer in urban areas of the country.

The program to support the transition of the Electric Social Rate (TSE, for its acronym in Spanish) is aimed at the improvement of the housing conditions of the population in a situation of greater vulnerability, through the continuity of the electricity tariff subsidy.

Likewise, improvements are expected in the administration of the TSE that will result in greater effectiveness of the current scheme through the systematization and use of the data related to the allocation of the TSE and the strengthening of the management of the governing bodies in energy. 1.43 million inhabitants with TSE will be the direct beneficiaries and the entire population of the 135 Districts of the Province of Buenos Aires will be indirect beneficiaries.

The approval of these operations is the result of the work coordinated by the Under-secretariat of International Financial Relations of the Ministry of Finance, the national and provincial authorities, which together with the World Bank team of experts join their efforts to guarantee access to modern and affordable energy services, essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.