• The Association’s top executives made presentations at international events drawing attention to the responses of Latin American banks in support of the production sector.

October 27, 2020.- ALIDE takes part in the international debate on solutions for SMEs heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Association’s top executives made presentations, at international events, on the situation of the production sector and the actions being taken by development banks for its benefit.

The Secretary General of ALIDE, Edgardo Alvarez, participated in the Regar 2020 Ibero-American Meeting, the most important Ibero-American event on SME guarantee systems, while Romy Calderón, head of the Studies and Information Program, took part in the Annual Plenary Meeting of Safin, a venue for the exchange of knowledge about financing small agricultural and rural producers.

In his presentation, the Secretary General emphasized that the guarantee funds are one of the most heavily used instruments for facilitating the flow of financing towards Latin American SMEs, by helping to broaden the coverage of available funds in development banks and governments at a moment of high demand for resources.

In that way, the guarantee funds made it possible to alleviate risks inherent in SME sector financing and to spur the flow of credit. Among the measures taken, Edgardo Alvarez underscored the creation of new public guarantee funds, the enlarged coverage and the issuance of guarantees for factoring and medium-sized enterprises.

The Head of Studies, for his part, made his presentation at the Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network (Safin) event. Calderón’s presentation focused on the measures taken by development banks to confront the crisis, specifically those targeting the agricultural and rural SME sector.

The economist highlighted, among other actions, the allocation of new credit lines with longer terms and grace periods, postponement of debt payments, specific loans for the most heavily affected rural sectors, guarantees for SME debt instruments in the securities market, and financing for financial intermediaries.

The presentations fall within the scope of ALIDE’s role of disseminating development bank holdings and actions for the benefit of Latin American and Caribbean economic and social progress.

About ALIDE

ALIDE is the community of financial institutions that generates banking solutions for the development of Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 1968, its main objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of the region, through the good practices in development financing that it promotes among its associates, about 90 institutions with a presence in more than 20 Latin American countries and other regions of the world.

Contact

Hanguk Yun
Officer, Comunication Unit
Telephone: +511-203-5520 |: Ext: 226
comunicaciones@alide.org
www.alide.org