CFN will improve access to its credit lines with CAF's support

In the framework of the 'Programa de Fortalecimiento de Bancos de Desarrollo' (Program for the Strengthening of Development Banks) carried out by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, a technical cooperation agreement was signed in favor of the Corporación Financiera Nacional (CFN) (National Financial Corporation), which will enable the delivery of resources aimed at developing the instruments of "Structured Financing", a product aimed at helping finance productive projects in the country. 

This support is in addition to the cooperation framework that the institutions already have in place, as in 2014 CAF granted a loan to the CFN for USD 120 million, aimed at financing fixed assets of the Progresar Program. This line of credit is focused on projects that are developed in the 14 prioritized sectors within the process of change of the productive matrixpromoted by the National Government.  

Now, with CAF's non-reimbursable resources added to the CFN's own investments, national and international experts will analyze the CFN's credit exercise within its institutional and regulatory framework, in order to identify the opportunities and critical factors that influence the financing of projects. This analysis will contribute to the design and implementation of the structured financing as a product of the corporation. The first results will come out in 2016, and will become institutional within the CFN through a knowledge transfer process. 

For Bernardo Requena, CAF's Director Representative in Ecuador, the agreement is a complement to CAF's comprehensive support to the CFN, as there is an active credit operation in the framework of the Progresar Program, which is made up of resources for the loans to the productive sector as well as by an important component for institutional strengthening which is very related to the technical cooperation recently signed, seeking to support the generation of new products and services that improve financial deepening. 

At the same time, María Soledad Barrera, President of the Board of the CFN, mentioned that the optimization of products and services provided by this public bank to the country shows the commitment of the entrepreneurial world and its alignment with the political objective of leading Ecuador toward a society of Good Living. The role of the CFN, according to the President, is to provide financial solutions that are adequate to the real needs and requirements generated by the dynamic boost of the Ecuadorean economy. 

This knowledge transfer program between CAF and the CFN will also help as a reference for its application in other development financial institutions in the region.