Noting that among those loans is the so-called SiBolivia, Zabala said the rate was the lowest in the history of the highland country.
According to the agency, as of February 12 this year, the BDP has issued 4,718 loans worth 499.2 million bolivianos (more than $71 million) nationwide.
He described that, according to INE data, these resources have contributed to the reduction of imports in the following sectors: agriculture, food processing, metal mechanics and wood.
La Paz is the leading department in lending with 161.5 million bolivianos ($23 million), accounting for 32.36 percent of the total, it was reported.
137.6 million bolivianos (nearly $20 million) were awarded to Santa Cruz, accounting for 27 percent of the total, and to Cochabamba 85.1 million bolivianos ($12 million), (17 percent).
Manufacturing, agriculture, and ranching were the areas that received the largest resources from the SiBolivia loan.
Zabala described that a percentage decrease in imported volumes was observed in several sectors in 2022 compared to 2021.
He specified that the decline in agriculture is 44.9 percent, in the food industry 19.8 percentage points; in metalworking 3.5 units per 100 and in wood 2.5 percent.
These indicators show that the import substitution industrialization policy is delivering good results, he said.
For their part, BDP sources reiterated a firm belief in comprehensive productive development through industrialization to reduce overseas purchases of domestically producible goods.
The financial institution insisted that this path constitutes the basis of the country’s sovereignty, to which it adds efforts to promote production using Bolivian raw materials.
The BDP finances productive loans for various sectors and items such as the so-called BDP Women, Agriculture, BDP Manufacturing and Transformation, Commerce and Services, Productive Pirwa, Your Machinery, BDP Leather, Fishing and Aquaculture, among others, at different interest rates.
Technical support to growers is the unique selling point of this financial institution, the sources concluded.
jha/jpm