Announcement of World Bank Approves Loan to Peru for Industrial Development on December 10, 1981

0 _J F,OR. t¥MEDIATE RELE)~E,~ ; a : ~ •world Bani< 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington;u.C. 204H, U.S.A.•Telephone: (202) 477-1234. BAWK NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/23 Contact: Ciro Gamarra December 10, 1981 (202) 477-8034 WORLD BANK APPROVES LOAN TO PERU FOR INDUSTRIAL rEVELOPMENT Small-scale enterprises in Peru will be assisted by a $26 million loan from the World Bank. The loan will help .fi~~n~e the foreign exchange cost for up to 1,500 investments by small enterprises. About 10,000 new jobs will be created. Most of these investments will be in manufacturing, but the enterprises will include all productive, commercial and service activities except agriculture. The funds wi11 be channeled through the borrower, the Banco Central de Reserva del Peru (Central Bank), to the Corporacion Financeria de Desarrollo (COFIDE) and other financial intermediaries. The objective is to increase the '....... n~mber of i~stitutions lending to smaller scale enterprises, particularly banks w1th.extens1ve branch systems outside the Lima metropolitan area. To improve the quality of these lending services, a training program for loan officers will be undertaken by COFIDE. Two previous industrial credit loans to COFIDE have been made by the World Bank, in support of medium - and large-scale investment projects. The new loan will focus on smaller scale firms which tend to create jobs at a faster· rate and ..lesser cost: the average investment per job created is expected to be about $5,000, compared to about $25,000 for larger firms" The World ~an~ loan of $26 million to the Banco Central is guaranteed by the Republic of Perij •. It is repayable in 15 years including four years of grace, at 11.6 % interest per year. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. I I