FINANCING for line 2 of  Panama Metro is the responsibility of the consortium and not the government and the state will step in only if work stops says Minister of Economy and Finance, Dulcidio De La Guardia  as the Odebrecht company faces increasing credit problems.

The consortium formed by Odebrecht and FCC Construcción, has been negotiating for several months with banking groups to obtain financing for the work.

Originally, it had submitted a letter of intent to finance from a group of banks led by Citibank, which decided to drop out  in May 2016.

Since then, the credit risk of Odebrecht has been increasing as corruption cases linked to the company have been revealed.

In December, the company admitted to paying bribes in 12 countries, including Panama.

De La Guardia said Wednesday, Feb 1, that the consortium has an offer of two international banks to finance line 2. The c onsortium Line 2 indicated that "the financing of line 2 is in its final stage."

The work is 33 percent complete and remains on schedule.

Metro Director Roberto Roy said previously that the consortium is jointly responsible, so that in the event of the departure of one member, the other should finish the job.

Public Works Minister Ramon Arosemena said that the construction company has two options to finance the project, outside financing or paying for it  themselves .