Spain formalises its contribution to the capital increase of CAF, the development bank for Latin America and the Caribbean

Spain, which has participated in previous capital increases of the institution, is reaffirming its commitment to one of the main development banks in Latin America and the Caribbean, reinforcing the financial capacity to work together to promote sustainable and fair growth and the development of projects in the region.

The Council of Ministers authorised Spain's participation in the institution's capital increase last July. In March 2022, CAF's Board of Directors approved by consensus the institution's tenth equity strengthening, the largest in its history, with a total capital increase of USD 7 billion.

The signing of the agreement to subscribe shares in the capital increase of CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean by Spain was enacted in the margins of the informal Ecofin meeting, which is being held this Friday and Saturday in Santiago de Compostela, and within the framework of the first ever meeting of the Ministers for Economy and Finance and governors of the national banks in the European Union with their counterparts from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Commitment to CAF: sustainable growth in Latin America and the Caribbean

Last year, Spain celebrated the 20^th anniversary of its incorporation to the institution and, with the signing of the agreement, is once again reaffirming its commitment with CAF-Development Bank of Latin America to promote sustainable growth in the region from a financial, environmental and social point of view.

"We are going to continue working together with our brothers on the other side of the Atlantic to achieve the internationalisation of Spanish companies, to channel new financial resources to the region and to increase cooperation in different areas of development in Latin America, such as energy transition, sustainability, digitalisation and the fight against climate change", stressed the acting First Vice-President, Nadia Calviño.

CAF-Development Bank of Latin America is a multilateral financial institution founded in 1968, which currently has 20 shareholder countries and 13 private banks in the region. Spain has been a member of CAF since 1 January 2003 and, together with Portugal, are the only non-regional countries belonging to the institution.

Signing of ICO-CAF agreement for the International Channel Line

The agreement signed between the Kingdom of Spain and CAF is in addition to the financing agreement signed yesterday, Wednesday, between the Executive Chairman and CEO of the Official Credit Institute (ICO), José Carlos García de Quevedo, and the Executive President of CAF, Sergio Díaz-Granados, worth 300 million dollars (280 million euros) to promote sustainable and digital development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This is the fifth transaction concluded by the two entities within the framework of the ICO International Channel Line and will boost business activity and projects with Spanish interest that promote sustainable and digital development in the region, while supporting the internationalisation of Spanish companies.

Meetings with representatives from the financial sector

This Thursday, the acting First Vice-President took part in the Eurofi financial forum and in the meeting of the Board of Directors for CAF, the development bank's governing body.

She also closed the event 'Dialogues with the Banking Sector', organised by the associations AEB, CECA and UNACC with support from Abanca as the host, in collaboration with the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, in which the importance of developing sustainable finance was addressed, among other issues.

Tonight, the first welcome events for the official delegations to the city will take place, prior to the meetings on the official agenda for the Spanish presidency of the EU.

Informal Ecofin meeting

Tomorrow, Friday 15 September, the meetings and gatherings relating to the informal Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) will officially begin, within the framework of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU.

The acting Vice-President will inaugurate the event 'High Level Dialogue on Amazonia: An Opportunity for Collaboration', organised by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and will participate in the Eurogroup meeting and in the Ministers' social lunch, as well as in the Gala dinner.

In the first of the planned Ecofin working sessions between EU ministers and their counterparts from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), ministers will address the Global Gateway investment agenda agreed in July to discuss an investment agenda to strengthen cooperation between the two and to seize opportunities for sustainable and inclusive growth.

In a second session, following up on last weekend's leaders' summit in New Delhi, ministers will address the need to strengthen the global financial safety net. This discussion will serve as a basis for the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings that will take place in Marrakech in October.

Finally, on Saturday 16 September, EU ministers and central bank governors will discuss the interaction between fiscal policy and monetary policy in the current economic juncture and how both can address current and future priorities and challenges. The second session will focus on strategic autonomy, economic security and European public goods.

Non official translation