PARAGUAY'S RESPONSE TO OPIC

UNCLAS ASUNCION 000671 SIPDIS SIPDIS PASS TO WHA/BSC FOR OPIC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV PREL PA SUBJECT: PARAGUAY'S RESPONSE TO OPIC REF: SECSTATE 103089 ¶1. (SBU) Post finds no derogatory information on the five Paraguayan microfinance institutions or their executive members listed in reftel. ¶2. (U) USAID indicated that the Agencia Financiera de Desarollo (AFD) approved three of the five institutions, Financiera El Comercio (FIELCO),Financiera Familiar, and Vision de Finanzas (VISION) to serve as intermediary financial institutions (IFI) eligible for AFD loans. The GOP created the AFD in 2005 as a second story public bank backed by the Inter-American Development Bank. AFD grants microcredit to small- and medium-enterprises through its 29 IFIs. The remaining two listed in reftel, Fundacion Paraguaya de Cooperacion y Desarollo (Fundacion Paraguay) and Grupo Internacional de Finanzas (INTERFISA),do not participate in AFD's microcredit program. Moreover, the Paraguayan Central Bank oversees FIELCO, Familiar, INTERFISA, and VISION. CASON