The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of an $18 million loan to Argentina to help strengthen the institutional investment environment, particularly in the relatively less developed provinces, by building the capacity of their non-financial public institutions linked to the productive sectors and integrating the provincial public expenditure management systems.
The program aims at contributing in the medium and long term to the gradual consolidation of mechanisms for interaction between the federal government, the provinces and the productive sectors.
“Efficient management is key to improving the performance of public services,” said IDB team leader Hector Salazar. “Integration and management of public expenditure systems that enable national and provincial financial data to be aggregated and to facilitate compliance with fiscal rules and restrictions is essential to improve the timeliness and integrity of data systems and to standardize basic data classifications,” Salazar added. “Undoubtedly, both dimensions contribute to the perception of good government.”
This program, which will be executed by the Provincial Relations Branch of the Ministry of Economy Finance Secretariat, will complement ten years of previous efforts to improve fiscal relations between the federal government and the provinces and will help achieve continued fiscal discipline in the provinces.
The loan is for a 20-year term with a five-year grace period at a variable interest rate. Local counterpart funds total $12 million.