CABEI grants US$45 million to Nicaragua for highway maintenance

The Manager of the CABEI Regional Office in Nicaragua, Ms. Edda Magaly  Meléndez, and the Nicaraguan Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Iván Acosta, signed an agreement to partially finance the “5th Highway Rehabilitation and Maintenance Project” with a  US$45 million CABEI loan provided by CABEI as an allocation of ordinary resources for the public sector.
The project will have a number of positive economic and social impacts on Nicaragua, in particular the economic stimulus of adding 86.76 kilometers of roads paved with cobblestones to permit year-round transit to the national road network.

In addition, the project will benefit 304,413 inhabitants in the target area by facilitating their transportation to Managua and other cities in the country, as well as by reducing the cost of vehicle operation, highway maintenance, accidents and travel time for passengers.

The rehabilitation seven of the highway stretches will create approximately 1,485 direct and indirect temporary jobs during highway construction and approximately 168 permanent jobs for the microenterprises that will carry out the subsequent maintenance.

CABEI’s loan will contribute to its efforts to foster Social Development and Competitiveness by improving the country’s integrated road infrastructure since the project’s target area produces most of the meat, cheese, coffee and grains that Nicaragua exports.

In addition, the project to rehabilitate these roads will promote the competitiveness of the area’s agricultural, livestock and tourism sectors, as well as increase production. This will in turn generate employment and higher living standards for the beneficiaries because it will improve their ability to transport their products to be marketed both inside and outside the country.

From mid-2011 to 2012 CABEI has approved and disbursed US$134 million to Nicaragua for productive infrastructure projects.