The national government has approved a US$75 million loan from the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) to Córdoba to improve the drinking water service in the provincial capital, through Decree 925/2025 published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette. In the regulation, analyzed by the Argentine News Agency, President Javier Milei gave the green light to the signing of a guarantee contract between Argentina and CAF, along with the subscription of a counter-guarantee contract between the Executive and the Córdoba administration. In this way, the national government backs Córdoba's payment commitment to CAF and reconfirms its guarantor responsibility to meet the agreed terms and deadlines without compromising the country's public accounts. In this regard, the official text specified that CAF «proposed to the national government the signing of a Guarantee Contract with the purpose of the Argentine Republic securing the financial obligations that the Government of the Province of Córdoba will incur as a consequence of the signing of the aforementioned CAF Loan Contract». In this framework, it detailed that the Counter-Guarantee Contract signed between the Nation and Córdoba aims «at the need to ensure the payment of the commitments arising from the aforementioned CAF Loan Contract and to preserve the public credit of the Argentine Republic». In this respect, it stipulated that «in the event that the respective payment is not made, the Government of the Province of Córdoba will authorize the National Government to carry out the corresponding procedures for the direct debit of the funds from the Federal Tax Co-participation Account or from the regime that replaces it, for up to the total amount owed». The general objective of this financial assistance is «to contribute to improving the quality of life, hygiene, and public health of the inhabitants of the city of Córdoba Capital, through the improvement of the drinking water service». The execution is structured in two components: Civil Works and Project Management. In the considerations of the decree, it was argued that the Central Bank analyzed the effect of the operation on the Balance of Payments and stated that «it implies a limited impact in macroeconomic terms on the flows of the international balance of payments» and, therefore, concluded that said impact «will be limited and consistent with the dynamics planned for external operations». In the same vein, the National Public Credit Office of the Ministry of Economy stated that it has no objections to the financing, as the financial cost of the loan, «based on the available information and assumptions made, is lower than that which the Republic could obtain in the market».
