Nicaragua legislators agree to new Kuwait loan for hospital

Nicaragua's national assembly agreed to a further 1.63bn-dinar (US$5.39mn) loan from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to complete the construction and equipping of the Chinandega departmental hospital.

The total value of the project was initially estimated at US$99.8mn with Central American development bank Cabei providing a loan of US$51.9mn. The Kuwaiti fund has already provided US$30mn that was agreed in 2014. The remaining US$17.9mn is the responsibility of the Nicaraguan government.

Cabei and the Kuwaiti fund’s loans were to pay for the pre-investment costs, construction and hospital equipment. 

“The hospital is 93% into the construction process, about to be finalized. We’re talking about it being available for the people of Chinandega in September,” lawmaker Evile Umaña said in an assembly statement.

An agreement on the new 24-year loan was reached on January 28. Terms include 2% interest and a four-year grace period.

Construction began on the 400-bed hospital in February 2018. The western department has a population of 414,000 and healthcare at the hospital will be free of charge. The two-story building will be equipped with eight operating theaters, an intensive care unit and specialist neurology and pediatrics units.

In 2019, the health ministry said it had built 18 hospitals and had plans to construct 14 more over the next five years. These would be in León, Chinandega, San Juan del Sur, Ocotal, Nueva Segovia, El Cuá and Matiguás. 

Photo: Cabei