The Inter-American Development Bank announced the approval of a $77 million loan to Uruguay to improve the quality of life in irregular settlements and to support a policy review to improve housing for low-income communities.
The project is designed to benefit approximately 100 irregular settlements with nearly 10,000 families, which constitute about 30 percent of the total population living in these kinds of disadvantaged communities throughout the country.
Direct investments will be made in infrastructure, community facilities and social services, and families will be given assistance for regularizing the legal status of their properties.
Funds will be available for community development activities, monitoring and supervision of works, and preinvestment studies and project preparation.
A review of central government and municipal urban development policies will be undertaken with the goal of improving the regulatory, financial and institutional framework of the housing sector, especially with regard to bettering conditions for low-income groups.
A coordinating unit of the Office of Planning and Budget* will be established to carry out the program, whose total cost is $110 million.
The IDB loan is for a 25-year term, with a five-year grace period, at the variable annual interest rate, now 6.98 percent. Local counterpart funds total $33 million.