Spotlight: IDB projects in Peru

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) expects to approve loans for US$400mn for Peruvian projects in 2022, mainly to close gaps in the sanitation, education and agricultural sectors.

Private investment promotion agency ProInversión and IDB Invest recently signed a cooperation agreement, supporting the structuring and transaction of public-private partnerships, which is also expected to facilitate the development of six wastewater treatment plants. Some 2.3mn residents will benefit while total investment amounts to US$6.5mn, Ezequiel Cambiasso, local IDB head of operations, told BNamericas.

PORTFOLIO

The bank’s US$1.68bn Peruvian portfolio involves 28 projects. Around US$500mn have been disbursed, US$118mn between January and mid-August alone.

Financing for development institutions involves US$674mn, with US$175mn having been disbursed. Projects include financial digitization in the public sector (US$74mn) and criminal justice services (US$100mn).

Energy and infrastructure will receive US$608mn, one focus being financial management related to natural disaster risks (US$300mn). The project was approved in 2013 and is still being implemented.

Source: Inter-American Development Bank

Cambiasso said IDB loans for 2022 and 2023 will focus on water and sanitation, improvement and expansion of pluvial drainage services, higher technical education, financing for women entrepreneurs, regional infrastructure construction to increase competitiveness, and national agrarian services.

Loans will keep growing through 2026, Cambiasso said.

Projects related to institutional strengthening became more prominent as result of the health crisis.

Cambiasso also highlighted the bank’s role in creating and implementing the national infrastructure plan (PNIC). “[We] definitely will accompany the country in the development of the projects the plan includes. These activities are part of the strategy for the 2022-26 period,” he said.