Govt. seeks US$150mn from WB for provincial roads

Argentina's government has submitted a US$150mn loan request to the World Bank (WB) for a phase-two, US$200mn provincial road infrastructure project, according to a bank project information document. The bank plans to begin its official appraisal of the project April 29, with the project due to go before the bank's board June 21. To support the country's competitiveness and economic growth, the proposed project aims to improve the reliability of provincial road sector assets and the efficiency of their management. The country's provincial road network totals some 250,000km that are under the jurisdiction of 23 provincial road agencies, representing 28% of the country's total road length. Of the 250,000km, 30% are paved. Road sector investment has decreased significantly over the last years, particularly after the peso's devaluation, said the document. Investment fell 58% at the federal level and 74% at the provincial level during 2002-2003 as compared to 1993-2001. Specific project components are road rehabilitation and maintenance through performance-based contracts, road paving and rehabilitation, and road sector management and institutional building.