Renewed backing for sustainable infrastructure projects in Colombia

The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) today approved a further US$200 million loan for Colombia’s Public Investment Plan 1998-2002. The plan aims to achieve higher economic growth, expand space for private investment, and lower the Unsatisfied Basic Needs Indexes (UBN) in an effort to generate employment and improve the living conditions of the population.

The CAF executive president, Enrique García, said the loan is part of the multilateral institution’s ongoing assistance to Colombia to guarantee the execution of a set of infrastructure and social investment projects geared to promoting sustainable growth, job creation and reduction of poverty.

This operation is similar to others that satisfactorily covered the first three years of the 1998-2002 Investment Plan in sectors such as potable water and sanitation, transport, community development, agroindustry and the environment.

The ten-year loan with a two-year grace period will be executed by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit through the Office of Public Credit. The funds will be used to finance priority projects related to transport (60%), potable water and basic sanitation (10%), agricultural development (19%) and health (11%).

The beneficiaries of these projects are located in strategic rural and urban areas of Colombia, characterized by their vulnerability. The government has focused its actions on these areas in an attempt not only to provide physical infrastructure works but also to eliminate factors that generate violence and social breakdown.