BBVA Paraguay is primarily owned by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, a Spanish financial institution which heads the group of entities that give form to Grupo BBVA. Grupo BBVA, which owns 99.9971% of BBVA Paraguay, is a global financial holding which provides a wide array of both wholesale and retail financial services in 32 countries around the globe.

The proposed project consists of a long-term credit facility for up to US$ 20 million for on-lending to farmers and agri-SMEs.

30.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	30.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

BBVA Paraguay is headquartered in Asunción, Paraguay. The Bank has 12 branches located across the Paraguayan territory.

IFC’s involvement in this project is expected to have a strong developmental impact as it will: Allow farmers and agri-SMEs access to funding with longer maturities, enabling them to undertake capital investments at longer tenors and attractive costs. Contribute to rural economic development while reaching the BOP in rural areas. Help deepen access to finance to smaller and medium sized enterprises, particularly in the agribusiness sector, which traditionally have limited access to long term funding.

Through this project, IFC will be enhancing BBVA Paraguay’s ability to provide long term financing to SMEs in the agriculture sector, a segment of the market crucial for the adequate development of Paraguay’s economy.

This project involves IFC support for on-lending to farmers and agribusiness SMEs and has been classified as a Category FI project. The project will be required to: develop a Social & Environmental Management System (SEMS) to ensure that its investments/activities supported by IFC financing are in compliance with the IFC FI Exclusion List and applicable National Social and Environmental Laws and regulations, and/ or the IFC Performance Standards, as determined during the appraisal; identify responsible, qualified persons to implement the SEMS; commit to take action to remedy any gaps in SEMS implementation on an ongoing basis; demonstrate commitment to applying the labor standards established by the IFC Performance Standard 2: Labor and Working Conditions; and submit an annual social and environmental performance report to IFC as per a format to be provided by IFC. The appraisal will focus on the client''s capacity to develop and implement an SEMS in order to comply with applicable requirements.