MAIN FINDINGS The specific analysis of “COVID-19 Projects” financed by the main DFIs in Argentina has made it possible to reach a series of findings, regarding trends, regulations, the application of safeguards and transparency, which help to better understand the options that these institutions have offered to countries like Argentina in response to the pandemic, and the way the country has made use of these alternatives. First of all, it should be noted that the way in which “COVID-19 Projects” are identified and categorized by some DFIs is, at the very least, confusing. That is, it is not clear what criteria are used to determine that a project approved by the institution is in response to the impacts of COVID-19. This is particularly evident for the projects financed by the World Bank and the IDB that appear in the specific web portals created by these institutions to provide information on the measures implemented in response to the pandemic. For example, in the “Operational Response to COVID19” dashboard published by the IDB (n.d.), which “shows approvals and reformulations of IDB’s Sovereign Guaranteed projects to deal with the emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Latin America and Caribbean region,” there are only two projects financed by the IDB in Argentina in response to COVID-19 in the 2020-2021 period: AR-L1326: Immediate Public Health Response Project in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic to contain, control and mitigate its effect on the provision of health services in Argentina, for USD 470 million; and AR-L1328: Global Credit Program for Reactivation of the Productive Sector, for USD 500 million. However, in the project portfolio financed by the IDB in Argentina that appears in the “Projects” section of its website, there is a larger number of projects that include components in response to COVID-19 or that, minimally, mention it when justifying or describing the project. In fact, as was stated in the previous sections, at least seven projects can be identified which have some type of reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, five of those projects do not appear in the dashboard published by the IDB.18 Furthermore, some regional projects in which Argentina is included have not been categorized as “COVID-19 Projects” despite the fact that the context of the pandemic and the need for economic recovery have led to their reactivation. An example is the project RG-T3049: CANEF – Support for the Development of a Regional Extractive Sector Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean. As stated before, although the project is not identified by the IDB in its COVID-19 response portfolio and, in addition, is part of a regional project approved by the bank in advance, the project has been reactivated in the country in the context of the pandemic, and it aims to promote the development of a sector (large-scale mining activity) promoted by national and provincial authorities as a way to further the economic recovery. In the case of World Bank (n.d.), in the section “World Bank Group’s Operational Response to COVID-19 (coronavirus) – Projects List” there are four projects financed by the Bank in Argentina in response to COVID, although in this case there are two categories: on the one hand, the category Projects that are supported by the COVID-19 Fast-Track Facility (including support for vaccines), in which a project financed in Argentina is listed: AR: COVID-19 Emergency Response Project, for USD 35 million; and on the other, the category Projects with support from IBRD and IDA, with components responding to COVID-19 and projects with other forms of finance/redeploying of existing projects, in which three other projects financed in Argentina are listed: Digital Inclusion and Innovation in Public Services in Argentina, Buenos Aires Water Supply and Sanitation with a Focus on Vulnerable Areas and Supporting the Electricity Social Tariff Transition in the Province of 18. Those projects are: AR-T1247: Diagnostic Test for SARS-CoV-2 and Other Respiratory Viruses; AR-T1248: Development of CRISPR-Based Diagnostic Test for SARS-CoV-2; AR-L1327: Innovation Program for Crisis Response and Strategic Priorities Management; AR-T1253: Support for the Development of Social Protection Policies for Vulnerable Populations in Argentina, and AR-T1258: Support for government communities for practices aimed at a comprehensive response to COVID-19 challenges in Argentina. 23 DFIs FINANCING IN ARGENTINA DURING THE PANDEMIC: COVID-19 PROJECTS AND TRANSPARENCY SHORTCOMINGS