The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers approved last Tuesday the granting of three loans to banks in Costa Rica, Panama and Peru, worth almost 25 million euros and charged to the Fund for the Promotion of Development (FONPRODE), for the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in these countries.
On the one hand, and at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers authorized the granting of a loan for a maximum amount of US$20 million (almost 17 million euros) to Banco Improsa S.A., of Costa Rica, a banking corporation incorporated in 1995, with the aim of “contributing to better and greater access to financing for Costa Rican micro, small and medium-sized enterprises”.
This loan is part of the V Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation 2018-2021, which states that “FONPRODE will pay special attention to interventions in microfinance, remittance banking, small and medium-sized enterprises, social economy, venture capital, infrastructure creation and Public-Private Partnerships for Development (PPPD)” and which includes Costa Rica among the advanced cooperation countries.
The government also approved a loan of 5.6 million euros to Panama’s Central Empresarial Solidaria, S.A. (CFE Panamá), a privately held commercial enterprise established in 2009. The purpose of this loan is to “facilitate access to credit for micro, small, and medium-size enterprises, accompanying them in their development with simple and rapid financial services tailored to the client’s needs.” Panama is also listed as an advanced cooperation country in the V Master Plan.
Finally, the Council of Ministers authorized the granting of a loan of up to US$3 million (2.5 million euros) to Empresa de Desarrollo de la Pequeña y Microempresa Alternativa S.A. (EDPYME Alternativa) in Peru, an entity that began operations in 1992 under an agreement between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the departmental Chamber of Commerce to promote microenterprise lending. The V Master Plan includes Peru among the middle-income partnership countries.
