CAF provides financing for infrastructure pre-investment studies in Latin America

(Caracas, Nov. 27, 2012).- A $200-million credit facility was made available by CAF –development bank of Latin America– to its 18 shareholder countries through the Infrastructure Pre-investment Global Program. The goal is to support the implementation of quality investment projects –public or private– in line with national development agendas.

The program will finance pre-investment studies of projects and public services, primarily in the areas of economic and social infrastructure, basic services, the environment as well as sector and impact studies.

"Latin America can now tackle the challenge of structural change that will ensure consistent, inclusive further growth," said Enrique García, President of CAF. "In order to do that, [the region] needs more investment in infrastructure, logistics and innovation, leading to a transformation away from a model of comparative advantage into one of competitive advantage."

He said "the region is investing 3% of its GDP in infrastructure when it should be investing more than 5%."

The Infrastructure Pre-investment Global Program is CAF’s contribution to encourage countries to embark on that path. This program will provide resources for quality pre-investment studies of specific projects, both public and private. Until now, support was limited to non-reimbursable grants and contingent recovery for pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, through the Infrastructure Pre-investment Fund (PROINFRA). The new credit facility seeks to support project formulation in all its stages prior to construction.

CAF shareholder countries, subnational entities, with or without sovereign guarantees, and private companies are eligible for this credit line for up to U$20 million per loan request. This facility will be available for the next three years.