Emergency Guatemala loan

The OPEC Fund has approved a US$50 million public sector COVID-19-related loan to Guatemala to co-finance the ‘Crecer Sano-Nutrition and Health Project’.

The loan will extend the reach of the project, which aims to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on child malnutrition in Guatemala’s most vulnerable areas. The project is being co-financed with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of the World Bank, which will administer the loan.

OPEC Fund Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: “This emergency loan demonstrates our proactive approach to meeting partner needs in a quickly changing development landscape. Approving loans via a fast-track process provides immediate and effective help to partner countries as they mitigate, contain and recover from the effects of the pandemic. In recent months, more than half of the US$1 billion package we have allocated to COVID-19-related efforts has been approved via this fast-track process.”