US$170 Million To Fix Roads
The Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE) has agreed to hand over the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (CONAVI) us$170 million dollars for the repair, reconstruction and maintenance of the country's road network.

The agreement was signed by the BCIE and CONAVI at Casa Presidencial yesterday.

Witness to the agreemetn was Costa Rican president  Óscar Arias Sánchez,  Ministro de Hacienda (Revenue) and Guillermo Zuñiga, that was made official by the Ministra de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), Karla González and the BCIE director for Costa Rica, Alfredo Ortuño.

According to minister González, the money will go directly to repair the roads that are in the worst condition and to build overpasses at some of the rotondas (round abouts) in San José. Without mentioning specifics, the San Sebastián rotonda is highest on the list for an overpass, similar to the one built at the Desamparados rotonda.

The CONAVI made a formal request to the BCIE last June and it was approved within days. According to BCIE director Ortuño, "the poor condition of Costa Rica's roads deserved priority".

Ortuño added that the BCIE approval does not mean a debt for Costa Rica, which it will be able to recover the during the next four years by its "impuesto unico de los combustibles" - gasoline tax - as stipulated in Costa Rica's tax laws - Ley 8114 de Simplificación y Eficiencia Tributaria de Costa Rica.

The BCIE is a leading source of multilateral financing for the integration and development of Central America. Regional members countries of the BCIE are Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica. Non-Regional members include Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Republic of China and Spain.

Based in Tegucigalpa , Honduras, BCIE was founded December 13, 1960 by  Guatemala, El Salvador , Honduras , Nicaragua and Costa Rica to promote regional integration and the social and economic development of the region.

On September 2, 1989 , in the city of Managua , Nicaragua , the founding countries of BCIE signed the Protocol of Amendments to the Constitutive Agreement, which allows the participation of non-regional countries as members of the Bank. On January 1992, with the deposit of the fifth ratification instrument, the modified Constitutive Agreement came into effect, allowing the direct incorporation of non regional countries to the Bank’s equity.

On November 1992, the Republics of Mexico and China incorporated as non regional members of the Central American Bank, with a contribution of us$122.5 million and us$150.0 million, respectively. Subsequently, in March 1995 and April 1997, the Republics of Argentina and Colombia incorporated, in that order, with a contribution of us$57.6 million each. Spain signed an adhesion agreement to incorporate as non regional member with a us$200 million capital on March 5, 2004 .