The Government approved the model contract that will allow progress with the granting of a loan for US$ 50 million by the Bank Central American Economic Integration (CABEI) to finance the feeding program of the Argentine National Plan against Hungerthrough Decree 821/2022 published this Wednesday in the Official Gazette.
The loan will support the execution of the program belonging to the Ministry of Social Development, whose purpose is to contribute to the food security of families in situations of social vulnerability.
At the beginning of last month, and on the occasion of the formal opening of the representative offices of the multilateral entity in Argentina -the first in South America-, CABEI approved the financing for the initiative that seeks to supplement the diet of more than 500,000 families.
“One of the main purposes of CABEI is to reduce poverty and inequality through this initiative. We have identified directing our contribution to ensure the feeding of millions of Argentines who need this support “
The credit will be used for the Alimentar program: a monetary supplement for people who receive the Universal Child Allowance (AUH), Pregnancy Allowance for Social Protection, mothers of seven or more children who receive non-contributory pensions or people with children with disabilities who receive the AUH.
The benefit is currently $9,000 per month for those who receive the Pregnancy Allowance and for families with one childand ascends to $18,000 in the case of families with three or more children.
“One of the main purposes of CABEI is to reduce poverty and inequality through this initiative. We have identified directing our contribution to ensure the nutrition of millions of Argentines who need this support,” said its executive president, Dante Moss, in a statement when announcing the credit.
For his part, the director for Argentina before CABEI, Felipe Solá, He emphasized that “the bank’s support for the plan is a complement to the great investment that the State is carrying out to provide food security to humble families.”
“Until now, the Plan has had an excellent result in the face of constant increases in food prices and the generous reinforcement of CABEI will further improve its efficiency,” added Solá.
The loan has a term of 20 years. including a five-year grace period and an indicative annual interest rate of 5.7%.
Argentina has been part of CABEI since 1995, owns 3.8% of the bank’s shares and is one of the Extra Region members together with China (Taiwan), Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Cuba and South Korea.
Until now, the bank approved loans for the country for US$ 394 million corresponding to nine operations in the areas of science and technology, education, health, infrastructure, digital transformation of MiPymes, rural development and actions to protect against gender-based violence.
