Stock Market News

Guatemalan congress approves $500 million loan from World Bank

2022.05.19 07:11

Guatemalan congress approves $500 million loan from World Bank

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemala’s congress approved on Wednesday a $500 million loan from the World Bank that the government has said will be used to pay down debt, freeing up funds for social spending.

The loan was supported by the government and its allies and passed with 86 votes in the Central American country’s 160-seat legislature.

Finance Minister Alvaro Gonzalez Ricci said this month that the “indispensable” loan would save funds that could be used for social spending.

The minister said a 0.75% annual interest rate would save some 1.8 billion quetzales ($233.7 million) over the loan’s 13-year period by substituting more expensive treasury bonds.

“It is a rate that is impossible to obtain in international or local financial markets,” Gonzalez Ricci said.

In April, Fitch Ratings revised Guatemala’s rating outlook from stable to positive, citing its strong economic recovery and fiscal consolidation.

Guatemala reached a deal for the loan in 2020 but the government presented it to congress this year.

General elections are scheduled for next year.

Some critics have said the government should not be taking on the loan amid questions about how the funds will be spent, media has reported.

“Hopefully, the people of Guatemala will raise their voice against this brazenness,” opposition lawmaker Samuel Perez said before voting against the loan.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,107.29 0.20%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,372.33 1.69%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.12%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 252.96 2.27%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 660.45 0.12%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.40 5.01%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.423772 4.10%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.11%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.02 6.32%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,369.71 1.79%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.208936 3.05%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 41.36 2.64%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.09 5.20%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.516832 14.84%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000026 5.89%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,991.59 1.69%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 97,748.19 0.30%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.70 7.59%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.80 1.43%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 511.25 1.85%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,373.59 1.65%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.37 4.70%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.97 7.61%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 4.02%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.61 0.50%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 96.65 5.32%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.27 7.57%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.90 0.85%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,549.92 1.79%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.33 5.46%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.140576 8.44%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.12%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.185676 6.34%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.558734 5.82%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 28.50 6.21%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 8.04 0.36%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.51 3.05%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 528.78 2.34%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.10%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.151623 2.33%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.47 1.16%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 2.34 9.74%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000046 5.19%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.12%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.850482 5.21%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.042605 2.01%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.61 6.98%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.50 9.50%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 54.94 6.32%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.65 2.49%