CABEI and BCH sign US$200 million agreement to support the crisis caused by COVID-19

25/04/2020

The resources will make it possible to create guarantee funds that will boost the economy.

Tegucigalpa, April 25, 2020.- The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) signed an agreement to activate a contingency credit line amounting to US$200 million. The resources will strengthen BCH's position in the face of the health emergency caused by COVID-19.

The agreement was signed by CABEI Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi, and BCH President, Mr. Wilfredo Cerrato.

At the agreement signing ceremony, CABEI Executive President Dr. Mossi stated that, “CABEI is proud of the rapid activation of resources aimed at its founding member countries to face the economic crisis resulting from the international pandemic; the funds will strengthen BCH’s level of international reserves, maintaining the value of the national currency, the proper functioning of the payment system and the stability of the Honduran financial system.”

For his part, BCH President Mr. Cerrato highlighted that, “The signing of this instrument complements BCH’s actions to boost the economy in the context of this health crisis. The resources of this credit line will be used exclusively to constitute guarantee funds aimed at facilitating access to working capital financing for companies that have been affected by a decrease in their cash flows due to the pandemic.

The intervention falls under the framework of the action plan of the COVID-19 Emergency Support, Preparedness and Economic Reactivation Program, which has been approved by CABEI. The Program includes a Credit component to Support the Liquidity Management of Central Banks with an amount of up to US$1.00 billion, which may be granted to each founding member and non-founding regional member country.

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