Skip to main content

IDB approves $15 million to strengthen municipalities in Nicaragua

The Inter-American Development Bank today approved a $15 million soft loan to Nicaragua to strengthen the capacity of municipalities to deal with rapid urbanization and increasing demands for services and infrastructure.

The resources will finance the preparation, implementation and monitoring of municipal action plans by participating municipalities that agree to modernize in the following areas: finance and administration, service management, environmental and natural resource management and urban planning and development.

Funds will be earmarked for infrastructure projects that will be carried out within the new framework in the areas of urban transportation; solid waste disposal and treatment; systems for storm drainage and catchment of rainwater in reservoirs; creation and protection of green areas, forests, and other-high-value environmental zones; and protection against erosion and flooding.

Studies will be undertaken to evaluate possibilities of private sector investment markets, terminals, slaughterhouses, cemeteries, restoration of historical heritage and solid waste disposal.

The Instituto Nicaragüense de Fomento Municipal*, which will carry out the program, will be strengthened so that it can take charge of coordinating, developing and supervising the coverage and quality of municipal training and technical assistance services as well as processing and evaluating the municipal policy proposals. Sixteen municipalities, excluding the capital, are eligible to participate in the program.

Previous concessional loans to Nicaragua this year by the IDB have supported child care, technological innovation and judicial reform.

The current loan from the Fund for Special Operations is for a 40-year term, with a 10-year grace period, at an annual interest rate of 1 percent during the grace period and 2 percent thereafter.

Jump back to top