Ministry of Economic Affairs and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America to promote financial education

The objective is to support Spain and Latin American and Caribbean countries in developing and implementing national strategies related to financial education.

Bearing in mind that the aforementioned Ministry is part of the team of promoters of the Spanish Financial Education Plan (PEF), together with the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission, the text signed by the two institutions demonstrates their interest in working together to address the problem of financial and digital literacy among the elderly, women and the rural population, and to prevent them from being excluded from the financial system due to their low digital skills. To this end, they will develop a pilot programme to identify this problem and seek solutions.

The First Vice-President of the Government of Spain reaffirmed Spain's commitment and ties with the CAF and Latin America to "promote a more sustainable economic recovery and growth from a financial, environmental and social point of view".

"Strengthening financial inclusion in the region is a fundamental aspect of boosting economic development and the well-being of the population. To this end, we have signed this agreement with the Government of Spain, which will allow us to further promote our work in economic and financial education, mainly in the most vulnerable sectors," said Sergio Díaz-Granados.

20th anniversary of Spain as a shareholder of CAF

Spain celebrates 20 years as a shareholder of CAF with an agenda focused on supporting the internationalisation of Spanish companies, channelling new financial resources to the region, and increasing cooperation in different areas of Latin American development, such as energy transition, sustainability, digitalisation and the fight against climate change.

Among the events marking the anniversary, the CAF Conference "Europe - Latin America Relations" was held today in Madrid, inaugurated by Díaz-Granados and the Secretary of State for Economy and Business Support, Gonzalo García Andrés, a meeting place to reflect on the state of the transatlantic relationship and future opportunities and challenges.

CAF has developed projects that have contributed to regional integration; to the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism; to the granting of a loan (2013) for 300 million dollars in favour of the Official Credit Institute (ICO) to address the liquidity shortage in the Spanish financial sector; and to the equity investment of 1.6 million dollars in the Spanish Development Finance Company (COFIDES), among others.

In addition, CAF has created platforms and spaces for dialogue to promote exchanges between Spain and Latin America and the Caribbean and to promote existing opportunities in the region.

The mission of CAF (Development Bank of Latin America) is to promote sustainable development and regional integration through the financing of public and private sector projects and the provision of technical cooperation and other specialised services. Established in 1970 and currently comprising 20 countries - 18 from Latin America and the Caribbean, together with Spain and Portugal - and 13 private banks, it is one of the main sources of multilateral financing and an important generator of knowledge for the region.

Non official translation