The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, signed this Tuesday, together with the Director Representative of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF, for its acronym in Spanish) in Argentina, Andrés Rugeles, an agreement for an amount of 400 million dollars aimed at the financing of the “Paseo del Bajo” Project. The Minister of Transport, Guillermo Dietrich, and on behalf the City of Buenos Aires, Franco Moccia, Minister of Urban Development and Transport, and Martín Mura, Minister of Treasury, also attended the event.

Within that framework, Caputo said that “this loan shows the confidence that the Government of President Mauricio Macri has achieved before the international credit organizations. It constitutes a clear example of the direct benefits for Argentine citizens of a serious and foreseeable economic policy. With this financing we build routes, bridges, and the infrastructure we need to improve the lives of the entire population”.

In addition, Dietrich highlighted: “We are going to make this mega-project come true, which is essential to lower logistics costs and to promote intermodality in freight transportation; with a strong impact in the mobility of the City and the times and traffic safety of long-distance passenger transport. Today we make a step forward, confirming that the National Government and the Government of the City of Buenos Aires have to work together to execute the projects that boost the economy and that change the daily life of Argentine people”.

The objective of the project, which will cost 700 million dollars, consists in improving the urban transit and the mobility system of the City of Buenos Aires by means of the construction of a roadway corridor, which central road is 7 km long. This way, it will improve the north-south and south-north connectivity between the neighborhoods of Puerto Madero and Retiro, inside green spaces that will be developed along the way. Likewise, this infrastructure project will be integrated with the transport system of the metropolitan region, increasing regional competitiveness.

In that sense, Rugeles said that “the CAF is a strategic ally of Argentina. Initiatives like this one promote competitiveness and long-term sustainable growth”, and he added: “The project will allow the separation of the light and heavy transportation, promoting the reduction of logistics costs associated to foreign trade, gas emissions and noise, as well as the improvement of rail security and an important urban impact for the community through the connection between the center of the City and the neighborhood of Puerto Madero”.

The loan, which will have a local contribution of 300 million dollars, establishes a 15-year term with a 4-year grace period. This initiative is part of CAF’s commitment for the development of Argentina, which includes sovereign financing operations of up to 2 billion dollars in the 2016-2019 period for infrastructure works, productive transformation, and social development.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, defined today the selection of the international market placing banks that will be participating in the bond issue.

The banks are: Santander, BBVA, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and J.P. Morgan.

Minister Caputo said that the amount of the issue in dollars “will depend on the demand and the rates offered, given that bond issues will be conducted in different stages”.

He also said that alternative sources of financing are being evaluated, so he expects that the issue will be of approximately 5 billion dollars.

Luis Caputo officially became Argentina’s Minister of Finance today, after sworn in by President Mauricio Macri at the Casa Rosada. The new Ministry of Finance was created on June 2. Caputo was Secretary of Finance of the Ministry of Treasury and Public Finances until December 31, 2016.

The new challenges will be to strengthen Argentina’s relation with the international market, to continue with the reform of the capital market to improve the access to credit of SMEs, and to attract productive investments for the country that comply with the strategic objectives of the Government: to grow and create jobs.

The team led by Caputo made possible – while the former Minister of Treasury and Public Finances, Alfonso Prat-Gay, was in office – the resolution of the holdouts dispute, the lifting of injunctions against Argentina, and the return of the country to international markets with the successful bond issue of 16.5 billion dollars. As a result of this process, credit agencies improved Argentina’s qualification, reducing the financing cost.

Before being sworn in as public official, Caputo already had a wide 25-year experience at the private financial sector. He had worked in New York and London for Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan as Emerging Markets Chief and, later, he worked as President of the Deutsche Bank in Argentina. He has obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics at the University of Buenos Aires and he gave Finance classes at the Universidad Católica Argentina until 2015.

Santiago Bausili will be the new Secretary of Finance, Caputo’s previous position, and he will be in charge of implementing the policies designed by the new Minister. Bausili has been the Undersecretary of Financing of the Ministry of Treasury and Public Finances. He has 20 years of experience in the financial sector. He has been Director of the Deutsche Bank and Vice-President of J.P. Morgan in Buenos Aires and New York, assisting governments and companies from Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay) in their issues of international debt. He has obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics at San Andrés Univerity.

Pablo Quirno will be the new Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance. Quirno has been the Chief of Cabinet of the Secretariat of Finances of the Ministry of Treasury and Public Finances of the Argentine Republic. With more than 25-year experience in the international financial sector, he has worked in the private sector as financial advisor and he has been the co-responsible as Managing Director of the M&A team for Latin America of JPMorgan in New York where he has also been a member of the Regional Management Committee of JPMorgan. Quirno has also assisted governments and companies in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructures, privatizations, and private equity. He has obtained a Bachelor´s Degree in Economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.