CAF Development Bank of Latin America said it has granted a $125m loan for Panama’s finance ministry to fund an education program to provide English lessons in public schools.

The government started the Panamá Bilingüe program in 2014. The initiative taught English to more than 130,000 students and trained more than 3,000 teachers in 2018, CAF said in a statement.

The regional development bank was reportedly looking to sell its first dollar-denominated bond of the year this week, but the political turmoil in Venezuela, where the bank has its headquarters, may have convinced it to stay away.

CAF has set a benchmark in the euro-denominated bond market this year, selling €750m ($853m) in five-year bonds at 0.625% last month.

Source: Latin Finance