Caputo met with the President of the World Bank
Mr. Minister signed a financing agreement with Gilbert Huongbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which will benefit goat farmers of Chaco, Formosa, Neuquen, Mendoza and Santiago del Estero.
The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, finished this Friday his participation in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington.
Within said context, the Finance Minister met with the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Gilbert Huongbo, and they signed a financing agreement for 12.3 million dollars and a million-dollar donation for the Program of Development of Goat Chains (PRODECCA, for its acronym in Spanish).
Caputo said: “We thank the IFAD for its work in our country and highlight its contribution in the reduction of rural poverty, which is one of the Argentine Government’s priorities”, and he added: “IFAD’s support is of vital importance to strengthen regional and producer economies through their sustainable integration in value chains”.
PRODECCA will promote the incorporation of small goat producers in the market, benefitting 8,000 families in the Provinces of Chaco, Formosa, Neuquen, Mendoza and Santiago del Estero. This way, this initiative encourages the incorporation of vulnerable groups of said region. It will also have an indirect impact in the development of goat products consumption markets.
This project is the second one signed during 2017 with this Fund. In March, 24 million dollars aimed at the improvement of the insertion of small producers from the North of Argentina in different value chains were approved. Since 1988, IFAD has financed eight rural development programs and projects in Argentina for a total amount of USD372.3 million.
IFAD is a financial institution of the United Nations, created in 1978 and comprised by 176 countries, that finances innovative programs and projects of rural development in developing countries.
In addition, Caputo held a meeting with the Assistant Director in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, in charge of the work on financial sector regulation and supervision and crisis management, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, and they exchanged perspectives about the financial inclusion challenges of the region. “Financial inclusion is crucial to achieve growth; we need to increase the benefits of access to financial services and credit among the most vulnerable sectors of society”, Mr. Minister said.
Finally, the team of the Ministry of Finance met with the authorities of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and they analyzed the financing for the Argentine railway system, within the framework of the infrastructure plan carried out by the National Government. The Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno; the Secretary of Finance, Santiago Bausili; and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto, also participated in the meeting. Caputo had already had talks with the Operating Officer, Senior Managing Director and Director of Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nobumitsu Hayashi, during IDB Meeting in Paraguay in March. JBIC is a financial institution of the Japanese Government and it is aimed at contributing with the development of the international economy, promoting development and providing the necessary financial services to avoid alterations in the international financial sector. Caputo also talked with important investors of the region.