2023-06-22 00:56:04
Headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC.
The Municipality of Montevideo requested authorization from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to use the loan funds granted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on an exceptional basis. This measure would be taken with the objective of dealing with the water emergency caused by the prolonged drought that affects Uruguay. However, the Minister of the MEF, Azucena Arbeleche, prevented this proposal.
Given this fact, the mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse, said she was “outraged” by the response that the MEF gave to the capital’s mayor, since it is a non-reimbursable fund, that is, a donation.
However, the Secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado, responded to these statements and assured that he does not know “where this controversy came from”. In complaints to the press, he asserted that he contacted the executive director of the IDB that represents Uruguay, Matías Bendersky, and “there is no loan authorized to the mayor, nor is it on the table.”
“We can ratify that there is no non-reimbursable loan, granted to the Municipality of Montevideo for the issue of water deficit,” he added.
The IMM does have IDB financial instruments in use
Following Delgado’s statements, the MEF itself requested information from the IDB, which responded by explaining that, although there is no financial product in the application or approval process, it does have four in operation.
“The IDB financing instruments that the IMM currently has are two investment loans and two non-reimbursable technical cooperations with an exclusive focus on sanitation, urban drainage and solid waste. These loans and technical cooperation were managed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in its role as Governor of the IDB. We remain committed to our counterparts and available to help Uruguay through this water crisis,” added the international organization in its response to the MEF.
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