Announcement of World Bank Approves Loan to Argentina for Industrial Credit on December 3, 1981

. . , fOR IMMEDlf'lE RELEAS~: J 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/22 Contact: Ciro Gamarra December 3, 1981 (202) 4 77-8034 WORLD BANK APPROVES LOAN TO ARGENTINA FOR INDUSTRIAL CREDIT Modernization of Argentina's industrial and mining firms will be assisted by a loan of $100 million, the World Bank announced today. The borrower of the World Bank loan is the Banco Nacional de Desarro11o (BANADE), a development finance company. BANADE will relend the Joan directly, or through the provincial banks, to industrial and mining firms to finance the cost of imported equipment and the foreign exchange component of locally manu- factured equipmei,t purchased under' investment agreements. A line of credit of $10<mi11ion will be opened for the industrial energy conservation program. Technical assistance will be provided to help BANADE's institutional develop- ment and the development of an energy conservation program. BANADE expects to enter into co-financing arrangements with private foreign banks for this loan. A previous Joan of $100 million, approved by the World Bank in 1977, has been Uf~P to encourage efficient industrial develop- ment. Additioniil external finance'was stimulated for this loan in the form of a $100 million co-financing agreement by a group of banks led by Lloyd's Bank of the United Kingdom. The World Bank loan of $100 mi 11 ion t~- ;ANADE wi ·11 be guaranteed by th0 Argentine Government. It is repayable over 15 Years, with three years of grace, at 11.6% per year. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.