Included were projects to improve education and health services, modernize neighborhoods, and expand opportunities for women, children and indigenous people.

The Bank last year also financed projects to help Latin America and the Caribbean consolidate the major economic reforms they have already undertaken as well as move ahead on a series of "second generation" reforms. Other projects will boost civil society, increase equity and strengthen democratic institutions.

Operations totaling $575 were approved for projects designed to improve the efficiency of the state.

The Annual Report will be reviewed by the Bank's Board of Governors meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, March 16 18. The meeting, which is expected to draw some 2,500 participants, is the principal yearly forum for discussing economic and social development issues in Latin America. Among the numerous events taking place prior to and during the meeting will be four IDB seminars on citizen involvement in social programs, building peaceable societies, investing in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the unemployment problem.

In the area of economic integration, the Bank last year continued to be a source of technical support to consolidate subregional and hemispheric links, including the Free Trade Area of the Americas. It also financed projects to strengthen the Central American Bank for Economic Integration as well as a Bolivia/Brazil gas pipeline and the interconnection of Central America's electrical systems.

In the field of environment, the Bank last year approved financing for its first project dedicated exclusively to energy conservation and rational energy consumption and its first financing to a private company in the area of water and sanitation.

IDB direct lending to the private sector increased considerably last year over the 1996 level, to $320 million. Moreover, the Bank's participation has mobilized debt and equity capital averaging more than six times the amount of IDB financing.

According to an annual assessment of the Bank's portfolio, 86 percent of the 419 major projects under execution are on track to achieve their objectives. Action plans for each of the remaining 54 projects that need corrective action will be developed and their progress monitored. The Bank also identified 112 projects that were experiencing some degree of difficulties, in most cases due to weaknesses in the executing agencies.