Press Release
Thursday, April 26, 2007
OPIC BOARD APPROVES UP TO $225 MILLION TO SUPPORT CITI LENDING IN LATIN AMERICA & PAKISTAN
Focus on mortgage and construction loans
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) today approved up to $225 million in OPIC financing to enable Citi to expand its mortgage and housing construction lending in ten Latin American countries and Pakistan.
Citi will use the OPIC financing to provide loans to financial institutions in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Pakistan. The goal is to facilitate the development of mortgage markets and stimulate new residential construction in those countries, in the process catalyzing future investment by demonstrating the profitability of mortgage lending in underserved markets.
Specifically, by focusing on on-lending in low- and middle-income sectors, the OPIC-Citi agreement will provide leverage for private capital, which should, in turn, accelerate the provision of mortgages and housing construction.
“This new OPIC-Citi lending facility will help to broaden the mortgage market and expand the homeownership base of the target countries, enabling OPIC to efficiently and quickly channel private capital to meet developmental needs by leveraging in-country bank skills and assets,” OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. said. “OPIC is pleased to partner with Citi and a project with so many positive developmental benefits.”
OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.
OPIC’s political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency’s 35-year history, OPIC has supported $164 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate more than 732,000 host-country jobs and $13 billion in host-government revenues. OPIC projects have also generated $69 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 264,000 American jobs.