Tuesday 12 August
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
us$850 Million
Loan To Improve Infrastructure
Gasoline Price Hike
Takes Effect Tomorrow
Passage On The
Interamericana Sur "Regulado"
Juwi Launches
First Wind Project in Costa Rica
Several Trade Missions
Visit U.S., Boost
Business
|
us$850
Million Loan To Improve
Infrastructure
Costa Rica's roads will
get a facelift thanks to
the help of a loan of
us$850 million dollars
by the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB).
The money will be used
to build new roads and
bridges as well as
repair those that are in a
serious poor state of
repair mainly due to
lack of preventive
maintenance.
The money is destined
towards the building and
re-building of some 60
bridges along the
Interamericana that will
see the adding of a
third lane between San
Ramón and Barranca, east
of Puntarenas on the
Pacific coast, according
to the minsitra de Obras
Publicas y Transportes (MOPT),
Karla González.
The MOPT also plans to
use the money for
maintenance in the areas
of San Vito and Cuidad
Neily in the southern
zone and the highway
between Bribrí and Limón
on the Caribbean coat.
The minister said that
some us$30 million will
go towards the
modernizing of roads,
and bridges, while some
us$50 million will be
used to build sidewalks
and bicycle paths as
well as promote public
transportation in the
Central Valley.
The money is also
expected to be used to
develop the Tren
Eléctrico Metropolitano
(TREM) - electric train
for the metropolitan
area (San José), a
project that will
consume at least us$100
million dollars.
The loan, before it can
be accepted, has to
obtain the approval of
the Legislative
Assembly. Costa Rican
president, Oscar Arias,
yesterday made a call to
legislators to approve
the loan that is
urgently needed by the
country to better its
infrastructure.
For the country to
obtain the loan it has
to put up at us$200
million dollars, which
will be put up by the
Consejo Nacional de
Vialidad (Conavi) over
the next 15 years.
The bank loan is the
biggest that IDB has
ever given Costa Rica
and the third biggest
loan ever for the bank,
only Brazil and
Argentina receiving
more, according to
Fernando Quevedo, the
IDB representative in
San José.
The Inter-American
Development Bank was
established and
headquartered in
Washington, D.C., United
States, in 1959 to
support Latin American
and Caribbean economic
and social development
and regional integration
by lending mainly to
governments and
government agencies,
including State
corporations. The Bank
is owned by 47 sovereign
states, which are its
shareholders and
members. Of these, 26
are eligible to receive
loans from the Bank and
21 are not.
The IDB makes loans to
the governments of its
borrowing member
countries at standard
commercial rates of
interest, and has
preferred creditor
status, meaning that
borrowers will repay
loans to the IDB before
repaying other
obligations to other
lenders such as
commercial banks. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
