IADB approves financing to help Paraguay fight COVID-19 economic crisis
The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $210 million loan for Paraguay to help address the public health and economic crises triggered by COVID-19.
Of the total, $160 million will be financed by the IADB and $50 million by the Korea Infrastructure Development Co-Financing Facility for Latin America and the Caribbean, which is administered by the IADB.
The project will support temporary transfer programs that will benefit more than 300,000 low-income families, allowing them to buy food, medicine and basic goods, and a 40% increase in the country's health care budget so as to take on the public health emergency caused by COVID-19. The implementation of the project will also include measures to safeguard the incomes of informal workers, through subsidies and other tools to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and provide liquidity to companies affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic.
The $160 million loan is over 20 years, with a grace period of five and a half years and an interest rate based on LIBOR. The KIF co-financing will be over 25 years, with a grace period of seven years and an interest rate of 2.5%.
