Construction firms in Bolivia are asking for government help as they face difficulties accessing foreign currency and rising costs of materials.
The government and private sector representatives signed an agreement in recent days outlining 10 measures to boost investments and exports amid a shortage of US dollars since last year.
The plan includes cutting red tape for exports, increasing investment in grain production, making diesel imports easier, and allowing bigger trucks on the roads.
However, the construction sector will not get any specific help under the agreement and faces additional difficulties, according to the head of Santa Cruz department’s construction chamber Cadecocruz, Javier Arze, since it imports many supplies.
For example, Bolivia’s iron ore production will not even cover 5% of consumption, he told news outlet Unitel, adding that prices of some supplies have risen by up to 30%.
“It is the perfect storm. There’s no possibility to import, there aren’t any projects being tendered, and the public sector has a big debt with private companies,” he said, adding that the administration of departmental capital Santa Cruz alone owes 280mn bolivianos (US$40.5mn) to contractors.
Data from Santa Cruz department and at the national level was still being collected.
Arze warned that Bolivia’s public works contracts, which represent 80% of construction activity in the country, lack a compensation or cost readjustment mechanism by which the public sector assumes the difference in supply price variations, something that is applied in countries like Chile.
When BNamericas asked Cadecocruz which Santa Cruz projects are facing difficulties with currency issues, the chamber listed the following:
Virgen de Cotoca-4to Anillo viaduct (121mn bolivianos). It was awarded last May to a special purpose vehicle comprising Gómez Hurtado Jorge Fernando and Suzanabar, documents show.
Works began in July and as of December the project was 40% complete, according to the Santa Cruz city government.
The contract entails two 500m viaducts in the intersection between the Cuarto Anillo and Virgen de Cotoca avenues.
Plan 3000 viaduct (42.8mn bolivianos). Awarded in May 2022 to Asociación Accidental Plan 3000, works began in August of the same year and as of December 2023, the project was 65% complete, according to Santa Cruz municipality.
The project entails a 530m four-lane viaduct in the city’s eighth municipal district (dubbed Plan 3000).
Octavo Anillo wastewater outlet (150mn bolivianos). Awarded to Asociación Accidental Trapiche in 2022, works began in February 2023 and are part of a US$70mn urban resilience program financed by the World Bank.
The project entails a 6.44km wastewater outlet in the city’s 10th municipal district to prevent floods in Santa Cruz’s southwestern neighborhoods, as well as a secondary 2.08km canal, according to World Bank documents.
In December, Santa Cruz mayor Jhonny Fernández said the project was advancing according to schedule.
