Argentina

With a GDP of more than US$368 billion (2010) Argentina is one of the five largest economies in South America. In recent years, president Cristina Fernandez has focused on promoting economic development with social inclusion.

On the international front, Argentina enjoys good relations with most of the countries in the region -particularly Brazil and Venezuela- and with the U.S. and Europe. The country also has a leading role in advocating the region's policy stance, as it represents Latin America at the G-20, jointly with Mexico and Brazil.

Education and health: Argentina has a strong tradition in advancing public education and health. Currently 6 percent of the GDP is invested in education and culture, and 9.5 percent of the GDP is invested in health services.

Commerce and industry: in recent years, the country has experienced a record growth of its national industry, in particular  automobile, textile and power. Between 2003-2010, wine exports increased by 323 percent and Argentina reached the fifth place in wine production worldwide. The main commodities exported are wheat, soy pellets and meal, soybeans, crude oil, gasoline, and meat. The opening up of China's markets has been a boost to support exports.

Environment: 7.7 percent of the territory is under protected areas. There are 36 national parks and 400 provincial natural reserves. In the last 7 years, national protected areas increased by 24 percent and recently new marine reserves have been created. In 2009, the National Administration regulated the Forest Law, which aims to preserve the conservation of native forests. As part of its commitment to the environment, the Matanza-Riachuelo basin, one of the most polluted in South America, is being cleaned.

Economy: Argentina's macroeconomic performance in recent years has been strong. Consecutive years of rapid and pro-poor economic growth enabled poverty and unemployment to be cut to levels experienced prior to the country's 2001-2002 economic crisis. President Fernández seeks to support economic growth and stability after 8 years of continued GDP increase.

Economic activity grew by 9.9 percent during the first quarter of 2011. This growth has been spurred by private consumption and investment, which increased 11.3 percent and 19.5 percent respectively.

In 2010, Argentina grew by 9.2 percent and GDP is projected to grow by around 5-6 percent in 2011, mainly due to investments, private consumption and exports.

The creation of new jobs and the policies carried out to limit the impact of the international crises led to an unemployment rate of only 7.3 percent. Moreover, the Universal Child Allowance, implemented almost 2 years ago benefiting 3.6 millions of people, reaches 9.1 percent of total population.

In 2009, the Board of Directors of the World Bank endorsed the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Argentina until 2012 and allocated US$3.3 billion for its execution.

The 2010-2012 CPS seeks to advance the government's development vision by providing strategic support in three key areas: sustainable growth with equity; social inclusion and improved governance. In a nutshell, the partnership will:

• Upgrade infrastructure to address potential bottlenecks to competitiveness, and underpin medium-term growth and poverty alleviation.
• Improve competitiveness, quality, and exports of agriculture and livestock production.
• Address a growing problem of natural resource degradation.
• Consolidate and expand progress in reducing poverty by increasing household incomes and integrating marginalized groups into the productive marketplace.
• Consolidate improvements in health indicators.
• Strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and accountability of the public sector.
• Expand performance management and improve the quality of public expenditure
• Enhance service delivery outcomes and trust in institutions.

Argentina currently has a portfolio of 37 projects totaling US$7.3 billion in credits and five important GEF donations of US$29.4 million. The World Bank's involvement in Argentina includes a wide array of projects in areas such as agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and labor, among others.

At the beginning of 2011, the trilogies of projects related to the Norte Grande Development Program were approved. This include financing for a Water Project, a Sanitation Project and a Road Project, totaling US$800 million to increase access to water supply, drainage services, sanitation, and road building in Catamarca, Chaco, Corrientes, Formosa, Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero, where more than 7 million people live.  

Social safety nets also received strong support in March 2011 following the approval of an additional financing of US$480 million for the Basic Protection Project, which aims to increase the effectiveness of Argentina's income transfer programs for the unemployed and families with children, including the Universal Child Allowance. 

Health care received an energy boost in April 2011 after approval of the Provincial Public Health Insurance Development Project (US$400 million) that will improve the access to health coverage for 70 percent of people without health insurance.

This initiative complements Plan Nacer, which emphasizes performance based transfers in Argentina's health system, with immediate attention to the health needs of poor families. The US$300 million loan guarantees services to mothers and children in the northeast and northwest regions, where the country's nine poorest provinces are located. Part of the Essential Public Health Functions project (US$461 million), this initiative focuses on seven health programs including chronic diseases.

One of the largest initiatives of its kind, the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Sustainable Development Project provides $840 million in assistance to clean up the notoriously polluted river basin by improving sewerage services and expanding treatment capacity. The plan will directly benefit thousands of poor families living along the shores of the Matanza-Riachuelo, which is one of the most contaminated water systems in the region.

Also in infrastructure, the Bank supports the main hydraulic works in the City of Buenos Aires, through the Urban Flood Prevention and Drainage Project (US$130 million), that aims to improve the level of protection of its drainage system and implementation of a risk management program.

The Program to Promote Productive Innovation seeks to improve Argentina's knowledge industry by supporting highly skilled human capital and new knowledge-based enterprises in communication, information technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

Around 70,000 small and medium producers -over one third of the total number- are benefiting from initiatives such as the Second Provincial Agricultural Development Project PROSAP II, which provides US$300 million in assistance to support new public infrastructure and services investment in rural areas.

Education and knowledge have also seen strong backing from World Bank programs, including the US$150 million Rural Education Improvement Project (PROMER) that provides teacher training, materials and equipment, as well as new facilities for rural schools.

Road systems feature prominently in the World Bank's Argentina portfolio. A US$150 million plan dubbed Provincial Road Infrastructure supports road investment programs at the provincial level in Chubut, Corrientes, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, Neuquén and Santa Fe. The project purports to rehabilitate and maintain some 2,200 km of roads through CREMA contracts; rehabilitate and/or pave 270 km through traditional admeasurements contracts and develop a comprehensive routine maintenance program over some 9,400 km to comply with critical road safety requirements.

Additionally,  US$30 million Road Safety Project aims to contribute to the reduction of road traffic injuries and fatalities by strengthening the institutional framework and management capacity for road safety and the reduction of road crashes in selected pilot corridors.