Banco de Crédito de Bolivia

MIGA has issued a $14.25 million guarantee to Banco de Crédito del Peru, covering its $15 million shareholder loan to Banco de Crédito de Bolivia (BCB). The guarantee is for six years and protects against the risks of transfer restriction and expropriation.

With the loan, BCB, one of Bolivia’s top banks, will be able to strengthen its financial position. The loan gives BCB increased access to longer-term funding, allowing the bank more flexibility to improve the asset-liability match in its corporate and mortgage portfolio and to maintain its strong liquidity. The bank provides both corporate and retail financial services.

The loan comes at a time when Boliva’s banking sector is dealing with a four-year recession, coupled with a challenging operating environment and a loss of liquidity due to currency mismatches. The new loan will help strengthen a bank that has consistently ranked among the country’s top four. In turn, the anticipated improvement in performance should help reaffirm the viability of Bolivia’s banks—a lynchpin of any well-functioning economy.

The project aligns with the World Bank Group’s assistance strategy for Bolivia, focusing on strengthening and restructuring the financial and corporate sectors in the face of recent difficult political and macroeconomic conditions.