Enrique V. Iglesias served more than 17 years as president of the IDB, presiding over a period of strong growth of the institution’s resources and an expansion of its activities. Under his leadership the Bank became the leading source of multilateral development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean.

After his successive election by the Board of Governors to four five-year terms, Iglesias resigned on Sept. 30, 2005, in the middle of his fourth term. He subsequently became the first secretary general of the Ibero-American Secretariat, an office based in Madrid, Spain, that provides technical assistance and coordinates the annual Ibero-American conferences and summits.

A Uruguayan-Spanish dual citizen, Iglesias become the third IDB president on April 1, 1988. His predecessors were Felipe Herrera of Chile (1960-1971) and Antonio Ortiz Mena of Mexico (1971-1988).

During Iglesias’ tenure the IDB quadrupled its financial capacity. The conclusion of the Seventh General Increase in Resources (1989) added $26.5 billion to the Bank’s ordinary capital and $200 million to the Fund for Special Operations (FSO), the institution’s soft lending window. In 1995 the IDB Board of Governors approved the Eighth General Increase in Resources, adding $40 billion to the ordinary capital to reach a total of $101 billion and providing a replenishment of $1 billion to the FSO, bringing its resources to more than $10 billion.

Under Iglesias’ leadership the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC ), which supports small- and medium-sized businesses, was launched in 1989, and the Bank established a Private Sector Department in 1985 to provide financing directly to private firms without government guarantees. The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) was established under IDB administration in 1993 to support private sector growth through grants, technical assistance and equity investments.

During the Iglesias administration the Bank expanded into nontraditional areas of operations, such as the promotion of governance and transparency, modernization of the state, reduction of violence and crime and prevention and relief from natural disasters. More than 50 percent of the volume of financing was directed at social and poverty reduction programs.

A Research Department was established to explore new ideas, trends and best practices for economic and social development. Countries rocked by temporary financial turbulence resulting from irregular global capital flows – among these nations were Argentina, Brazil and Mexico – received emergency IDB loans and other aid to help them achieve financial stabilization, preparing the groundwork for subsequent economic growth.

Prior to his election as president of the IDB, Iglesias served as Uruguay’s Minister of Foreign Relations (1985-1988); Executive Secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (1972-1985); Secretary General of the U.N. Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, held in Kenya in 1981; and chairman of the conference that launched the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 1986. These negotiations led to the creation of the World Trade Organization, the successor to the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade. Iglesias served as President of Uruguay’s Central Bank from 1966 to 1968.

Iglesias taught economic development at Uruguay’s Universidad de la República and served as director of its Institute of Economics. He has written numerous articles and papers on Latin American and Uruguayan economic issues, capital markets, external financing and multilateralism. Iglesias has received many honorary academic degrees and professional awards.

Born in Asturias, Spain, Iglesias became a naturalized Uruguayan citizen. He graduated from Uruguay’s Universidad de la República in Economics and Business Administration in 1953 and pursued specialized studies in the United States and France.

June 2007