Costa Rica signs an agreement to become a full member of CAF

Statement from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)

[Machine Translation]

(San José, February 23, 2021) .- In order to strengthen the well-being of the population and the sustainable development of the country, the Executive President of CAF -development bank of Latin America-, Luis Carranza Ugarte, signed with the President of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Cubero Brealey, the incorporation of Costa Rica as a full member of the multilateral organization. The President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, and the Minister of Finance, Elian Villegas, participated as witnesses of honor in the signing ceremony held at the Presidential House.

Costa Rica joined CAF as a Series “C” shareholder in 2002. Since then, the institution has promoted various initiatives and projects aimed at accompanying national development plans. The incorporation of Costa Rica into CAF as a full member will allow the country to have access to a greater amount of long-term financial resources under favorable conditions, as well as non-reimbursable technical cooperation funds.

For its part, with the progressive incorporation of Mesoamerican countries into the institution, CAF will continue to deepen its role of accompaniment to the Latin American integration process, one of the main strengths of the bank that has accompanied, throughout its 50 years of existence, multiple integration projects throughout the region.

During the signing ceremony, CAF's executive president, Luis Carranza Ugarte, highlighted: “We appreciate Costa Rica's trust in our institution to deepen the relationship and continue to be an instrument to promote sustainable development and regional integration. At times like the ones we are currently experiencing, CAF is committed to providing financing, technical advice and generation of knowledge at the service of the country ”.

For his part, the president of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Cubero Brealey, stressed: “The incorporation of Costa Rica as a full member of CAF gives the country full access to resources in favorable financial conditions to meet fiscal needs and promote economic economic growth and employment. In addition to financial support, Costa Rica will benefit from technical cooperation in various areas, especially those that continue to allow us to advance towards sustainable development and the well-being of the Costa Rican population ”.

CAF has been an unconditional partner of Costa Rica to face the pandemic. In 2020, the institution disbursed a USD 500 million loan, approved in 2019 , to support the country's fiscal efforts and help meet short-term financing needs. Subsequently, and as part of the support given to the health emergency generated by COVID-19, CAF has approved two long-term loans totaling USD 550 million.