CAF's $6 Billion Bet on Chile: What the New Financing Deal Means for Kast's Stalled Economy

Chile's President-elect Jose Antonio Kast (R) and he president of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), Sergio Diaz-Granados, shake hands during a meeting at the Cousino Palace in Santiago on March 10, 2026, ahead of the presidential inauguration. (Credit: Photo by Raul BRAVO / AFP via Getty Images)

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  CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, will make $6 billion available to Chile over four years for housing and jobs, infrastructure, water and border security, bank chief Sergio Díaz-Granados announced after meeting President José Antonio Kast in Santiago.

• The pledge lands as Chile's economy barely moves: the Central Bank's own September update quietly revised the first-quarter 2026 contraction down to -0.3% (from an initially reported -0.5%), followed by a second-quarter dip of -0.2%.
• Treasury's own numbers shifted twice in three months — a May report capped 2026-2030 growth at 2.3% and put debt above the "prudent" 45%-of-GDP ceiling by 2028; an August update cut 2026 growth further to 1.8% while pulling the debt trajectory back under that ceiling.
• It's CAF's second multiyear package to a newly inaugurated right-leaning government this year, after a $9 billion commitment to Colombia in July.

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