The Secretary of Financial Services, Leandro Cuccioli; the Undersecretary of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Eugenio Bruno; and the President of the Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission (CNV, for its acronym in Spanish), Marcos Ayerra, attended today the plenary meeting of the Finance and Budget and Treasury commissions of the House of Representatives and they explained the main guidelines of the Bill.

The law will foster financing for SMEs, the access to housing, the strengthening of the regulator agency and CNV regulations, and the development of more instruments to promote long-term savings.

At the presentation, Leandro Cuccioli talked about the importance of expanding the capital market and highlighted: “Its development is the challenge we have as a country. It is a source of growth because it is the vehicle through which savings meet productive services. It is a channel that must be available for those who need financing”.

The Secretary of Financial Services also remarked the promotion of access to housing and he explained that “with this law we are creating an instrument that will provide the possibility of having a broad and cheap mortgage credit”.

Finally, he talked about the promotion of long-term savings and he said: “Our objective is to give incentives for people to have the necessary instruments for long-term savings”.

In addition, Marcos Ayerra explained the importance of building a strong capital market through legal certainty and a transparent regulation system. “To that end, we add concepts that allow us to have a better regulation and more reaction capacity to be institutionally stronger”, he said.

Finally, Eugenio Bruno talked about the legal and regulatory aspects of the new Productive Financing Regime and he said: “This project constitutes an upgrade of last year’s version due to the fact that it is aimed at improving the SMEs regime”.

The main objectives of the project are to provide the foundation for a strong support to SMEs financing; to promote the capital market at a federal level; to increase the protection to investors; to boost public offerings of shares; to favor the development of the mortgage market and financial inclusion; to create the favorable conditions for the promotion of long-term savings; to strengthen the infrastructure of the capital market; and to improve the independence and supervision capacity of the CNV.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, and the Head of Development Funds Management Unit at Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), Stefano Gatti, signed this afternoon the financing agreement for 42 million euros at a 0.2% rate and a 38-year maturity (with a grace period of 4.5 years) that will be aimed at the Argentine Program for Public Health (PROSEPU II).

Caputo said that the agreement is entered into within the context of “a new stage of international insertion and opening of the financial markets that Argentina is experiencing since the beginning of 2016”.

The implementation of PROSEPU II will enable the strengthening of public health performance in 15 high-complexity hospitals through the complete renovation of operating rooms and the incorporation of latest-generation equipment (resonators, ultrasound machines, defibrillators, pacemakers, X-ray equipment) in the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Misiones, Salta, Jujuy and Santiago del Estero. This way, 4,698,747 citizens will be directly benefited and more than 13 million will be indirectly benefited.

The objective of the Program is to achieve Universal Health Coverage (CUS, for its acronym in Spanish), ensuring fair access to sanitation services.
The Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno; the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto; and the National Director of Projects with Bilateral External Financing, Matias Mana, also attended the execution of the agreement.

Likewise, Teresa Castaldo, Ambassador of Italy in Argentina; Francesco Cappechi, Commercial Counselor of the Embassy of Italy; the former Minister of Health of Argentina, Jorge Lemus; Maria Cecilia Loccisano, Undersecretary of Administrative Coordination of the Ministry of Health; Guido Donaire, coordinator of PROSEPU II; and Maisa Havela, Coordinator of Strategic Planning of the Ministry of Health, also participated in the event.

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (CDP) is an institution that promotes and supports Italian growth. It is aimed at promoting infrastructure development, supporting investment projects, promoting the internationalization process of companies and fostering international cooperation. Its areas of interest are: energy, transport, infrastructure and development of projects with high social impact.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will grant USD 71 million to the Argentine Republic to finance Argentine SMEs investment, offering them the liquidity they need to continue growing and generating employment in the country. The Vice President of the EIB for Latin America, Roman Escolano, and the Minister of Finance of the Argentine Republic, Luis Caputo, signed today in Buenos Aires the USD 71-million loan by which the European Union Bank will support Argentine enterprises through the Bank of Investment and Foreign Trade (BICE, for its acronym in Spanish). This Argentine institution will be managing these funds, which will have the contribution of the BICE with additional USD 71 million.

The project signed today is the first agreement between the EIB and the Argentine public sector as from 1996. The EU bank started operating in Argentina in 1994, and since then it has singed 13 agreements, both in the private and the public sector, with the objective of supporting the economic growth of the country. The loan granted will be aimed at the productivity of Argentine SMEs, which are the engine of the country’s economy and which may be benefitted from the advantages of the EIB loan as regards both term and interest rates.

The Vice President of the EIB, Roman Escolano, highlighted today “the positive impact of this loan to contribute to the economic development of the private sector in Argentina, granting liquidity to the productive sectors. The agreement signed today evidences the cooperation commitment of the European Union with Argentina and our strong support to its economic reforms”.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, highlighted EIB’s support to extend credit for SMEs. “One of the milestones of the Government’s Administration and of this Ministry is to recover the world’s confidence in Argentina. Thanks to this agreement, we can obtain good financial conditions for SMEs and entrepreneurs”.

“The loan agreed with the EIB allows us to fulfill the mission we have as a development bank, promoting financial inclusion and extending the terms of the credits with which enterprises throughout the country are financed. The money obtained will be used in direct loans or through our second floor channel and it will be aimed at the financing of productive investment, exports and renewable energy projects that promote sustainable growth”, said the President of the BICE, Pablo Garcia.

The EIB loan signed today with the Argentine Republic is covered by the guarantees agreement of the EU and it is granted under the EU mandate loans for Latin America 2014-2020.

The visit of the Vice President of the EIB to Argentina is part of his tour in the region. He has signed different agreements to promote economic, social and environmental development.

EIB in Latin America

The European Union is the main partner of economic development of Latin America and the EIB, as EU Bank, supports the cooperation between both regions financing the projects that contribute to achieve the objectives of the European foreign policy: economic development, social and environmental infrastructure, development of the private sector and fight against climate change.

The EIB provides financial assistance for projects in Latin America fostering long-term investment in favorable conditions and the necessary technical support to make sure said projects have a positive social, economic and environmental impact.

Since the EIB started its activity in Latin America, in 1993, it has granted financing solutions for more than 100 projects in 14 countries of the region, with a total investment of 7 billion Euros. During the last years, the Bank of the EU has granted 900 million Euros to implement different projects in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Paraguay.

General Information

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term financial institution of the European Union which shareholders are its member countries. The EIB provides long-term financing for viable investment projects aimed at the achievement of the EU policy objectives.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, gave a speech this morning within the context of the launching of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Plan, a tool that will enable the efficient execution of infrastructure projects.
Representing the Ministry of Finance, the Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of Public-Private Partnership, Jose Luis Morea, also spoke at the event.

Caputo said: “Currently, we have 60 PPP projects for a total amount of approximately USD 26 billion for the next three years and a half, which will allow us to increase infrastructure 60% more in 2018 as compared with this year”.

In addition, the Finance Minister explained to businessmen and investors: “We have inherited a huge deficit in infrastructure and very little investment in the last years”. This type of partnership strategy will enable “to attract private investment to increase infrastructure investment, meeting our fiscal targets”.
“We are new in this PPP scheme, but it has worked in different countries of the region, such as Chile and Peru. This allowed us to learn from successful experiences”, Caputo added. He explained that “the infrastructure projects developed under the PPP modality are long-term agreements entered into by and between a company and the Government for the provision of public assets or services owned by the Government”.

Mr. Minister said that the advantage of PPP projects is that “they enable a more efficient risk management of the private and public sectors”. Thus, the investor of the project “has the necessary incentive to design a quality work and finish it in time and manner because as he complies with the deadlines, he recovers the investment”, Caputo added.

Finally, Mr. Minister invited businessmen to invest and trust in this long-term process.

Within the projects we can mention the construction of 2,800 km of freeways and 4,000 km of safe roads in the Provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Cordoba, Mendoza, Santiago del Estero, Tucuman, Salta, Jujuy, Misiones, Corrientes and Chaco; the improvement of existing tracks and construction of 685 km of railway tracks; the replacement of public lighting system; the construction and/or improvement of penitentiary centers and hospitals; water, sanitation and housing works, such as aqueducts, sewers, sewage treatment plants and housing solutions.
Any company or individual interested in these PPP projects can find more information at the website of the Secretariat of Public-Private Partnership of the Ministry of Finance:
https://www.minfinanzas.gob.ar/uppp/