The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) and the German Development Bank (KfW) have agreed to finance feasibility studies which they foresee as paving the way for US$173 million in loans to finance water supply and sanitation system improvements in four Costa Rican cities.
17 December 2012: The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) and the German Development Bank (KfW) have agreed to finance feasibility studies of proposed water supply and sanitation infrastructure works in four Costa Rican cities with a view to providing a loan for their construction.
The agreement for a KfW grant of up to 1.4 million Euros to finance the studies was signed in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on 17 December 2012, by BCIE Executive President Nick Rischbieth.
The feasibility studies are part of the Water and Sanitation in Central America Programme agreed between BCIE and KfW in 2011. The four cities under study are Jacó de Garabito and Quepos-Manuel Antonio in Puntarenas canton (province), and Puerto Limón and Guácimo in Limón canton. Among the projects contemplated are the rehabilitation, expansion or new construction of drinking water supply systems, water control/conservation measures, energy efficiency improvements and improvements in the sewage networks.
BCIE and KfW expect that the studies will green light joint lending of up to US$173 million in the Costa Rican Water and Sanitation Institute (AyA), the public utility in charge of water and sanitation for roughly half of the country’s urban population, to carry out the envisioned projects in the four cities. [BCIE Press Release (in Spanish)]