LONG-TERM LOANS APPROVED IN 1992

In 1992 CAF continued financing execution of long-term projects considered priority and of interest to the public and private sectors of member countries.

Fourteen loan operations were approved in the five countries for a total of US$396 million: Bolivia US$51 million; Colombia and Peru US$70 million, respectively; Ecuador US$73 million; and Venezuela US$132 million (see accompanying table).

VENEZUELA CAF participation in Venezuela in 1992 was mainly in the petrochemical, hydroelectric and textile sectors. Three long-term loans are aimed at creating incentives for the private sector and promoting foreign investment and exports.

For the joint venture SUPERMETANOL, CA, a US$47 million loan was approved in March for the Metanol II Project, consisting of design, construction and start up of a plant in the Jose Antonio Anzoátegui Petrochemical Complex in Puerto La Cruz.

The plant will produce 2,000 metric tons a day of chemical grade methanol using natural gas as basic raw material, which is very abundant in Venezuela. Half the production will be exported – mainly to the United States – while the rest will cover domestic demand (Venezuela currently imports 200,000 MT/year of methanol).

The shareholders of SUPERMETANOL are Pequiven and Ecofuel, together with a group of international financial institutions which participate in the company through the debt/investment conversion mechanism.

This is the third loan CAF has granted to the Venezuelan petrochemical industry and the largest granted to the private sector of the five member countries. (The other loans for the petrochemical sector went to RESILIN and PRALCA).

In July, a US$55 million loan was approved for the utility CVG Electrificación del Caroní (EDELCA) to partially finance the Macagua I Hydroelectric Plant Project located on the outskirts of Ciudad Guayana.

Execution of Macagua II began in 1987 and the first generating units are planned to start operation in two years.

This project is high priority for Venezuela because it will meet the growing energy needs of the large industries of Guayana, especially the aluminum producers.

For the textile sector, a US$30 million loan was approved in September for the company SUDAMTEX de Venezuela to increase production of yarn and finished textiles by over 50%.

With activities in the Andean Group, Mercosur, the European Common Market and the United States, SUDAMTEX is a Venezuelan group with international projection in the vanguard of the Latin American textile industry.

CAF also granted the company a US$10 million credit line to finance its foreign trade operations.