IDB and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) have reached an agreement on the terms for a non-sovereign guarantee loan for up to US$400mn to support the latter's US$5.25bn expansion plan, the financial entity said in a release.
The loan proposal will be presented to IDB's board for consideration in early October, IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno said.
In the past four years, IDB has lent Panama more than US$500mn for projects in sectors such as transportation, trade and export promotion, rural development, and water and sanitation.
ACP's expansion project started last year with excavation works for two new sets of locks at the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the waterway.
These facilities will be complemented with 11.2km of new access channels, the widening and deepening of existing navigation channels and the elevation of the water table at Gatún lake, which supplies fresh water for the operation of the locks.
Once the expansion is completed in 2014, the Panama Canal will be able to accommodate post-Panamax ships capable of transporting 12,000 containers, up from the current maximum of 5,000 containers.
The expansion is expected to generate a significant increase in revenues for the Panamanian government, and create 7,000 direct and 35,000 indirect jobs while works are being carried out.
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