The Secretary of Industry and Productive Development, Jose Ignacio de Mendigurenmet this Monday with the president of the Argentine Development Bank (BICE)Mariano de Miguel, and authorities of the world Bankto advance with a financing line of US$ 200 millionwhose purpose is to promote, facilitate and expand access to sustainable productive financing for Argentine micro, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs).
“This is one more step on a path that we are traveling so that the international financing requested by the country is for development and the real economy, not speculation“said the official, after noting that in 2022 the country achieved a record of more than US$ 5,000 million in credit lines from multilateral organizations aimed at SMEs.
The objective of this new national funding is to generate quality jobs and promote the increase in the productivity of companies, through the generation of exports of goods with added value.
The funds will be placed through BICE’s second-tier channel and directed to other financial entities, both private and public, so that they can channel them to their clientele for the productive activities of SMEs.
Also, this loan promotes the placement of credits to finance activities that consider mitigation, adaptation to climate change and gender equality, therefore, This new credit line will focus on “exports and projects that use environmentally friendly technologies”added the secretary.
For his part, De Miguel highlighted the work achieved with the World Bank during 2022 and the importance of deepening this agenda.
“Last year we finished executing a funding line of US$ 50 million that the agency granted us and that was fully placed by our second-tier channel in credits for investment, foreign trade and working capital. Now, the objective is to reach a greater number of SMEs through the new financing line that will quadruple the amount of the previous one,” said the president of BICE.
Likewise, the line of credit will incorporate the approach of Private Capital Mobilization (PCM), which considers that the resources coming from the international organization must be complemented by a counterpart that will include the participating commercial banks and the beneficiary companies, in addition, its design will apply the environmental and social standards promoted by the World Bank inspired by the Agreement of Paris on climate change.
On behalf of the World Bank, the operations manager, Paul Procee; and the project manager, Daniel Ortiz del Salto.
