Caputo, Vidal and Larreta participated in the subscription of IBRD loans for USD 470 M
The loans will be aimed at improvements in the Salado River Basin and at the urban transformation of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires.
The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated this afternoon in the execution of loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), part of the World Bank Group, for USD 470 million aimed at infrastructure works in the Province of Buenos Aires and in the City of Buenos Aires. The Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, Maria Eugenia Vidal, and the Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, also attended the event.
The meeting was held at “Casa de la Provincia de Buenos Aires”, where Caputo signed the sovereign guarantee agreement of the projects. In addition, the Director of the WB for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, Jesko Hentschel, and the Minister of Economy of the Province of Buenos Aires, Hernan Lacunza, and the Minister of Treasury of the City of Buenos Aires, Martin Mura, signed the loans that will improve the Salado River Basin and make progress in the urban transformation of the Metropolitan Area of the City of Buenos Aires.
The Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto, also attended the event.
Within said context, the Minister of Finance said the “WB is a strategic partner in the improvement and modernization of infrastructure in Argentina”. In addition, Hentschel said “with these projects, the WB aims to reduce poverty and to strengthen sustainable development in the City of Buenos Aires and in the Province of Buenos Aires”. Likewise, he highlighted that “the urban transformation of informal settlements will improve the living conditions of more than 100,000 people and a better flood protection in the Salado River Basin will create opportunities for more than one million people”.
This way, the “Support to the Comprehensive Management of Salado River Basin” Project will improve flood protection and will strengthen the capacity of the institutions responsible for the management control of water resources in the river basin. The project amounts to USD 375 million: USD 300 million will be financed by the WB and USD 75 million by the Province of Buenos Aires.
The improvements in the management of water resources will benefit the whole population of Salado River Basin: a total of 1.4 million people. In addition, the works will directly benefit approximately 75,000 people residing in the municipalities of San Miguel del Monte, Lobos and Roque Perez.
Moreover, the projects of “Urban Transformations of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires” will improve housing conditions and the access to basic services and infrastructure in selected vulnerable neighborhoods of this area, and they will also strengthen the institutional capacity for urban management at the metropolitan level. The total amount of these projects is USD 200 million: USD 170 million will be financed by the WB and USD 30 million by the City of Buenos Aires.
This project will benefit the residents of “Barrio 31” in the City of Buenos Aires: around 43,190 people, and approximately 5,000 residents of the neighborhood that will be selected in the Metropolitan Area. The indirect beneficiaries will be subnational governmental bodies of the area, which will be benefitted by a better institutional capacity for urban management at the metropolitan level. In addition, the implementation of policies and programs in urban development will have a positive impact on the 14.9 million inhabitants of the Metropolitan Area.
The IBRD is an international organization created in 1944, which objective is to contribute to the development of the Nations through loans, guarantees, risk management products and assistance services for member countries.