WASHINGTON – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it had provided US$11.7 billion for various projects in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2016.
The Washington-based financial institution said funds were also provided by its subsidiary Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC).
“Between the IDB and the IIC, disbursements exceeded US$9.6 billion during the year, confirming the IDB Group’s role as the region’s leading source of multilateral financing,” the IDB said in a statement.
It said both the approvals and the disbursements were “in line with the priorities set by the IDB Group’s 48 member countries, such as ensuring that at least 35 per cent of the new financing goes to the region’s smallest and least developed economies”.
The IDB said 2016 was the first full year of operations of the renewed IIC, which is now in charge of the IDB Group’s non-sovereign guaranteed operations.
During 2016, the IDB said the IIC approved a total of 153 deals for US$2.26 billion, of which 100 corresponded to the Trade Facility (US$457 million).
Of the larger transactions, the IDB said 41 per cent went to infrastructure projects, 40 per cent to financial institutions and 19 per cent to corporate financing deals.
The IDB-led sovereign guaranteed operations went to state modernisation projects (33 per cent), infrastructure and energy (30 per cent), social programmes (24 per cent), climate change (12 per cent) and trade and integration (One per cent).
During 2016, the IDB said its group continued to implement administrative cost controls that it had put in place last year, “reflecting the austerity policies adopted by many of its member countries”. (CMC)
