Cabei grants US$140mn loan for 4.5km Panama viaduct

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) agreed to grant a loan of US$140mn for the construction of a 4.5km viaduct on Panama’s Corredor de las Playas route.

The project initially entailed widening to six lanes a 32.7km stretch of the Pan-American highway in Panamá Oeste province, but was reduced to building the viaduct, local press reported. 

"For now, the new approach comprises the construction of a 4.5km viaduct, plus the rehabilitation and refurbishment of that highway stretch," the Panamanian division of Cabei confirmed to BNamericas.

The loan agreement was signed by Cabei, company Puentes y Calzadas Infraestructuras, which will carry out the works, and the public works ministry (MOP). 

“Cabei reached an agreement with the government of Panama where it will continue to pay this contractor according to its progress. Each time there is certified progress… the payment will become public debt, not before, and that contributes to the government not having that large amount of debt just sitting there,” the bank’s president, Dante Mossi, was quoted as saying by newspaper La Estrella de Panamá.

Information published on MOP’s website shows that the project was greenlighted in 2018 and was expected to be completed by 2020. Initial investment was put at US$603mn, but that was reduced to US$280mn.

Last year, Panama’s fiscal accounts supervisor asked the comptroller general to audit the project due to alleged financing irregularities and poor planning.