Passo Fundo in Brazil gets $9.8 million IDB loan under the Procidades program

Passo Fundo city to improve transportation, create green and recreational spaces and improve urban planning with IDB support.

Passo Fundo, a city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, will get a $9.8 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to improve the transportation system and the urban conditions in the city’s outskirts, as well as promoting local economic activities.

The loan, approved today, is the 13th operation under Brazil’s Procidades, the credit mechanism that finances integrated urban development programs for municipalities in Brazil in order to improve urban conditions and offer its residents a better quality of life.

Passo Fundo, which has more than 185.000 residents, will use this new IDB financing to also build roads and access routes and modernize the traffic signal system using the newest “environment-friendly” technology. In addition, it will finance economic development activities, especially focused in the investment attraction for the logistics and distribution sector. Local counterpart funds for this latest IDB loan total $9.8 million.

“The program will support the city in addressing its key priorities,” IDB project leader Márcia Casseb said. “In addition to improving transportation, the loan will promote green and recreational spaces, as well as support the creation of planning mechanisms in the municipal government to ensure a sustainable urban expansion”.

With the Passo Fundo financing, the Procidades credit mechanism has to date approved thirteen loans for a total of $314 million, covering municipalities in eight Brazilian states, including Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Espírito Santo, Sergipe, Amazonas and Rio Grande do Sul.

The program is now finishing the preparation of additional loans, with the most advanced being Itajaí (Santa Catarina), Duque de Caxias (Rio de Janeiro), and São Luis (Maranhão). The main areas of integrated development supported by Procidades include neighborhood upgrading, mobility and transportation, sanitation, social services, local economic development and institutional strengthening.