1999 lending highlights

• The largest single IDB loan to Brazil, for $2.2 billion, was approved to support measures to protect federal social spending levels and help maintain macroeconomic stability.

• The first IDB disaster relief loan approved on a special fast-track procedure enabled the Bank to provide $20 million in financing to Colombia in a record 26 days after a major earthquake struck the country’s coffee-producing region, causing many deaths and extensive damage.

• The first Private Sector Department operations were approved for Chile and the Dominican Republic, along with the department’s first project in the telecommunications sector (Chile), its first toll bridge project (Argentina), and its first loan guarantee operation (Brazil).

• In its largest single loan operation for Mexico, the Bank approved $800 million to help states and municipalities strengthen intergovernmental fiscal relations and resource allocation for public investments.

• The Bank financed 347 technical cooperation projects for a total amount of $72.9 million, while the Multilateral Investment Fund, an autonomous fund administered by the IDB that promotes private sector development, provided $134 million for 90 projects.