January 29, 2018
The Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, and the Ministry of Economy of the Province of Buenos Aires, Hernán Lacunza, signed together with the Deputy Director General for Investment of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Ghanem Sulaiman Al-Ghenaiman, a financing agreement for 51 million dollars aimed at the construction of a water treatment plant in the City of La Plata.

In this sense, Quirno highlighted: “With the execution of this agreement we continue developing the potential modernization of our infrastructure, crucial in a Province such as Buenos Aires, and improving the living conditions of the population”.

The subscription of the loan for the “Water Provision in La Plata Project, Construction of a Water Treatment Plant” was also attended by the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martín Soto. It was negotiated under a co-funding scheme with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).

The project will be financed with USD 51 million contributed by the FKAED (with an interest rate of 2.5%, a 24-year term and a 4-year grace period), USD 119 million by the CAF and USD 41.65 million of local contribution.

The new water treatment plant will improve the provision of potable water for the City of Buenos Aires, Berisso and Ensenada, through the construction of a new water treatment system in addition to the existing one. This way, the project will extend the water provision capacity from 2,500 to 10,000 m3/h, directly benefitting 480,000 users and improving the quality of the water by reducing nitrate levels.

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development is the first Middle Eastern institution to have an active role in international development by extending the lending terms to finance projects. In addition, it provides technical assistance to finance the costs of feasibility studies for projects as well as training.

The event was also attended by the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the KFAED, Abdullah Al-Musaibeeh; the National Director of Bilateral External Financing Projects, Matías Mana; the Undersecretary of Financing of the Province of Buenos Aires, Sebastián Katz; the Provincial Director of Multilateral Organizations and Bilateral Financing, Julián Amendolaggine; the National Director of Bilateral Economic Negotiations, Daniel Polski; the Argentine Ambassador in Kuwait, Jorge Biga; and the Director of Bilateral Economic Negotiations with Africa and Middle East, Patricia Fabro.

The Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martín Soto, participated this morning in the 4th Meeting of the Strategic Dialogue Mechanism for the Economic Cooperation and Coordination between Argentina and China. At the meeting, held at Palacio San Martín, they highlighted the progress made in the financial relations between both countries.

Within this framework, Quirno talked about the Argentine macroeconomic situation and Soto about the ongoing projects signed with China and about the 2017-2021 China-Argentina Comprehensive Five-year Project for Cooperation in Infrastructure.

The Meeting is part of the activities in which the Minister of Finance participates to promote the financing of infrastructure projects in the country and to increase the number of International Credit Organizations that finance operations in Argentina.

In April 2017, officials from the Ministry of Finance traveled to Beijing to participate in the 3rd edition of the China-Argentina Strategic Dialogue for the Economic Cooperation and Coordination, where the 2017-2021 China-Argentina Comprehensive Five-year Project for Cooperation in Infrastructure was signed.

Within the most important activities developed during said trip, we can mention the execution of the loan agreement for preferential buyer credit for the Photovoltaic Park Project Cauchari Solar I, II and III together with the Export – Import Bank of China.

January 4, 2018
Argentina issued bonds in the international market for a total amount of USD 9 billion in 3 parts:

• USD 1.75 billion in 5-year bonds, at a yield of 4.625% (4.625% coupon)
• USD 4.25 billion in 10-year bonds, at a yield of 6% (5.875% coupon)
• USD 3 billion in 30-year bonds, at a yield of 6.95% (6.875% coupon)

These rates are the lowest in Argentine history for bond issuances in dollars in the international market, and they represent 100 basis points below the rates of similar bonds issued in January 2017.

The demand for Argentine bonds totaled USD 21.4 billion, 2.4 times the amount issued, with the participation of more than 450 investors from North America (46%), Europe (35%), Asia (11%), and other regions (8%). The issuance was led by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities, HSBC, BBVA and Santander.
“We are more than satisfied with this new issuance, because we have achieved, once more, a significant reduction of our financing cost with the lowest rates in our history. This shows that investors have more enthusiasm and confidence in the economic and political situation of the country”, Minister of Finance Luis Caputo said.

“This financing covers about 1/3 of needs for 2018 and more than 50% of infrastructure investment included in the budget for this year, which is very important for the development of our country”, Mr. Minister added.

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.