Increase in Lending

In October last year, the IDB created a fast-disbursing $6 billion emergency facility that supports commercial lending. The funds are provided to governments, which in turn make the funds available to commercial banks. These financial institutions can then use the resources to finance lending to companies. El Salvador, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic have tapped the fund.

The IDB has increased approvals of loans, credit guarantees and grants by 34 percent in the first half of 2009 to $4.9 billion compared with the same period a year earlier. In 2008, the bank approved a record $11.2 billion in new financing, an 18 percent increase from a year earlier.

The increased lending has offset the region’s repayments to the IDB. The region received a net inflow of $2 billion in the first half of the year compared with a $196 million outflow in the same period a year earlier.

The poorest nations in the region are receiving special attention from the IDB during the crisis. In May, the Bank increased concessionary funds available for Bolivia, Guyana, Honduras and Nicaragua, allowing for lending to expand to the four nations by 39 percent during 2009 and 2010, to $485 million per year.

In addition, the IDB doubled its special grant facility for Haiti to $100 million for 2009 and the Bank cancelled $511 million in loan repayments from the country, part of an international debt relief effort. . For next year, the IDB plans to provide Haiti with another $120 million in grants.