WASHINGTON, 6 August 2009: The Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, approved a 7 million UD dollar loan for El Salvador, through its Opportunities for the Majority facility, aimed at helping the country’s low-income population address their housing needs by expanding their access to credit.
The Salvadorean housing fund FONAVIPO (Fondo Nacional de Vivienda Popular), a public second-tier financial institution, will use the IDB loan to expand its credit lines to microfinance institutions that, in turn, will provide loans to low-income households for the purchase of a home or a lot, make improvements to a dwelling they already own, or progressively build their own home.
The program is expected to directly benefit around 2.300 families, with individual loans averaging 3.000 US dollar, in addition to their eligibility for a government subsidy under El Salvador’s national housing program. These subsidies are also managed by FONAVIPO.
El Salvador’s housing program was launched at the beginning of this decade and the implementation of its first phase was financed in part by the IDB through a 70 million US dollar IDB loan approved in December 2001. The Bank’s pipeline for the second half of 2009 includes a new loan for the country’s housing program and integral improvement of informal settlements.
In addition to the new 7 million US dollar loan, the project includes a technical cooperation grant to establish the Centro de Información y Asesoría al Usuario para el Acceso a Soluciones Habitacionales (CIASUSH), a public information center on housing solutions, which will help low-income families gather documentation and complete the paperwork to obtain available funding.
Kilde: www.iadb.org
