The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a US$360 million Conditional Credit Line for Investment Projects (CCLIP) to Argentina to improve the quality of life in communities of up to 50,000 residents. The IDB Board of Executive Directors also approved today the first individual loan under the credit line for US$120 million.
With CCLIP resources, Argentina’s National Sanitary Waterworks Agency (ENOHSa, from its Spanish acronym) will improve sustainable coverage of water and sanitation services to benefit some 310,000 households that now lack such services.
“Some 62 percent of the 9.4 million Argentines living in small communities lack in-home connections to sanitation services, and 25 percent don’t have access to clean drinking water at home,” said IDB project team leader Kleber Machado. “This credit line will help remedy that situation with sustainable improvements in the coverage of water services, from 75 percent to 82 percent, and of sanitation services, from 38 percent to 48 percent, over the life of the credit line,” added Machado.
The first loan will help finance some 45 projects, including 15 water supply systems and 30 wastewater collection, treatment and final disposal systems, as well as measures to strengthen the institutional capacity of national, provincial and local agencies in the sector; and the management capacity of service operators.
Program administration will be decentralized and follow a general model where works financed with the program will be managed and operated by utility cooperatives or neighborhood water boards with strong community involvement.
The proposed program supports the IDB’s Argentina country strategy by seeking to improve living conditions for people in communities of up to 50,000 inhabitants by promoting the sustainable expansion of coverage of water supply and sanitation services and promoting better management by service operators.
The program is part of the IDB’s Water and Sanitation Initiative. Specifically, the first loan will contribute to the “100 cities” and the “3,000 rural communities” programs under the initiative. The first loan will benefit some nine cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants and some 36 rural communities between 500 and 20,000 inhabitants.
The first individual loan is for a 25-year term, with a six-year grace period at an adjustable interest rate. Local counterpart funds for this loan total US$30 million dollars.