The IDB has 26 borrowing member countries, all of them in Latin America and the Caribbean. Together, they have slightly more than 50 percent of the voting power on the IDB board (see capital stock and voting power ).
Since the IDB’s Ninth General Capital Increase (IDB-9), the IDB has aimed to dedicate at least 35 percent of its annual lending approval volume to the small and vulnerable countries in the region, which include the following: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. The remaining borrowing member countries include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.
Groups I and II
In 1999, the IDB started using a country grouping for purposes of monitoring the distribution of its lending. This criteria divides countries into Groups I and II, based on their GNP per capita in 1997.
On the basis of their lower per capita income, the Bank channels 35 percent of its lending volume to the Group II countries:Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Suriname.
Approximately 65 percent of the lending volume is thus channeled to the Group I countries: Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil,Chile, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.
In addition to these two country groupings, the IDB has the mandate to devote at least 50 percent of its operations and 40 percent of its resources to programs that promote social equity and reduce poverty.
