The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), known in Spanish as; El Banco Centro Americano de Integración Económica (BCIE) has finally released the first payment of funds for what is known as the Tenth Highway Expansion and Improvement Program (X Programa de Ampliación y Mejoramiento de Carreteras).
The importance of this news is that the “already started” phases of the Pacific Coastal Highway or “Costanera” are included in that project, as is the Corinto By-Pass (also under construction) which will improve the flow of container traffic through Nicaragua’s busiest port.
The recent release by CABEI represents US $76.71 million dollars or 20% of a total credit/loan of over US $382 million for the Tenth Highway Expansion and Improvement Program.
In June of 2022 the loan was ratified by the National Assembly of Nicaragua with a clause that the first installment of funds would be released no later than June 30th 2023. This date was later postponed by CABEI for a period of six months to December 30th 2023.
The Tenth Highway Expansion and Improvement Program has a total cost of US $401 million, 504 thousand dollars. The exact amount of the loan from CABEI is US $382 million, 580 thousand and 372 dollars and the balance, about US $19 million, will be provided by the State of Nicaragua. The loan is over 15 years with a grace period of three years from the time of the first disbursement.
As stated, as well as the Coastal Highway, the project includes;
- The Corinto Beltway Project, an 8 Kilometer bypass that will improve access to the City of Puerto Corinto and ease congestion.
- About 60 Kilometers of road in the Autonomous Region of the Southern Caribbean between Wapi and El Tortuguero. This will be an all-weather road used for the transportation of people and agricultural products.
- Improvement to the 11.76 kilometer road to La Calamida-Empalme Masigue in the Municipality of Camoapa which is also used for the transfer of goods and agricultural products.
