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$ 978 million from the World Bank will go to social projects
Posted On 07 Mar 2019
Ecuadornews:
The organization reiterated its support for Ecuador and invited President Moreno to be a spokesperson for policies in favor of persons with disabilities executed in the country. This year $ 978 million will come to the country for social protection programs and support to vulnerable groups from the World Bank.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Richard Martinez, informed that the resources are part of the financing agreement between Ecuador and multilateral organizations announced on February 20. Martinez, along with the President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno, and the Minister of Foreign Trade, Pablo Campana, met on March 6 in Carondelet with the Vice President for Latin America of the World Bank, Axel van Trotsenburg.
The agency will lend the country a total of $ 1,744 million for the next three years. The first operation of the BM this year will be approved between March and April for $ 350 million, Axel van Trotsenburg informed. In 2020, they will disburse $ 643 million and $ 141 million in 2021, the Ministry of Finance indicated.
The resources of this multilateral will be allocated to the transformation of technical institutes of the National Secretariat of Science and Technology (Senescyt) and to the educational reform undertaken by the Ministry of Education. They will also serve to improve the transport infrastructure of Ibarra, for the universalization of health services in Guayaquil and improvement of public services in Manta. The agency also finances Line 1 of the Quito Metro.
Another part of the resources will go to the Ministry of Finance for risk mitigation and emergency response. The WB also extended an invitation to President Moreno to head an agenda in favor of disabilities and share Ecuador’s experience in the application of public policies for the inclusion of people with disabilities.
The invitation was accepted by the Chief Executive. “The Vice President of the World Bank has invited me to be a spokesperson on accessibility tasks for people with disabilities and showed great interest in knowing in detail the work done by Las Manuelas (…),” Moreno wrote on his Twitter account.
Meeting with representatives of the Montuvio people
The President of the Republic also received leaders of the Montuvio people of Ecuador. The objective of the meeting was to review the advances to the demands raised by this social sector within the national dialogue. The national president of the group, Manuel Gonzaga, said that the main requests of their representatives revolve around “basic problems” such as the price band of agricultural products.
Additionally, they requested that the institutionality be returned to the montuvio people that was withdrawn by the previous administration, as well as the return of facilities that belonged to that population.
Gonzaga also expressed the need to reopen rural schools. He affirmed that the Government has remained open to his requests and that they are in process to be fulfilled.
The Montuvio Town is made up of 1,400 organizations from 12 provinces. The largest presence is in El Oro, Guayas, Los Rios, Esmeraldas and Santa Elena. The Minister of Agriculture, Xavier Lazo, reiterated the support of the Government to solve the problems of agriculture with a view to improving productivity, evacuate surplus products and continue with specialized credit. (I)
