The World Bank's board approved a $2 billion financial guarantee package for Argentina. File Photo by Peter Foley/UPI | License Photo
June 17 (UPI) -- The World Bank's board approved a $2 billion financial guarantee package for Argentina, a move aimed at helping the country meet upcoming foreign currency debt obligations and support its return to international credit markets.
The package is not a traditional cash loan. Instead, it consists of credit guarantees provided through two World Bank institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, which will cover nearly all of the risk assumed by private lenders.
"We are committed to supporting Argentina's macroeconomic stabilization and its growth-oriented reform agenda," Susana Cordeiro Guerra, the World Bank's vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, said Tuesday.
The guarantees are expected to unlock approximately $4 billion in financing from international banks, including JPMorgan, according to Argentine newspaper Clarín.
