CAF to Open Fund for 490 Post-Pandemic Digital and Integration Infrastructure Projects in LatAm

In order to promote the economic and social revival of the region and help it overcome the COVID-19 health emergency, CAF—development bank of Latin America—has proposed a fund with the help of its 19 member countries to finance a series of integration and digital infrastructure projects.

Before the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers of the Andean Community of Nations, CAF secretary general and finance vice president, respectively, Victor Rico and Gabriel Felpeto submitted a proposal to issue bonds to international capital markets, backed by a group of developed countries, for the revenue raised to be invested in the institution’s member countries through loans to support their economic recovery. The initiative proposes CAF as fund manager, which will be able to mobilize some of its own additional funds.

CAF has identified as many as 490 integration and digital infrastructure projects that stand out due to the quality of their structure, rapid implementation and the specialized counseling of their experts, and which could boost the region’s employment and economic growth in a year that envisages a 9 percent contraction caused by the COVID-19pandemic.

“We are convinced that the highly competitive rates that this fund may offer countries of the region will help complement each nation’s budget for post-pandemic investments. This will allow the region to grow its resources over the coming years for the benefit of citizens and global trade opportunities,” CAF secretary general Victor Rico said.

CAF plans to allocate more than USD 16 billion to address the fiscal and funding needs of its member countries, which have received a prompt and timely response to address the health emergency and leverage countercyclical plans which promote the economic and social recovery of the region.