On April 8, the Central Bank (BCCh, in Spanish) announced a series of new economic measures to provide liquidity, support credit flows and mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The measures are intended to complement the second phase of the economic emergency plan announced by the executive. 

In principle, the BCCh made the decision to include commercial placements of the individual portfolio of high credit quality – rating A1 to A3 – within the collateral eligible for access to this facility. In addition, it decided to triple the possibilities of access to the Conditional Credit Facility for Increasing Bank Placements (FCIC, in Spanish), providing greater flexibility for banking institutions to support the financing and rescheduling of household and corporate loans. This extension is expected to be operational in April, and may replace existing collateral as new categories are added.

In addition, the press release states that an agreement was reached with the Executive to send Congress a Bill in the next few days to allow the BCCh to offer financial services to other non-banking entities such as Savings and Credit Cooperatives, Central Counterpart Institutions, Securities Clearing Houses and High Value Payment Systems. The aim is for the BCCh to step up its effectiveness regarding its essential function of ensuring the continuity of payment systems.