Bolivia’s minister of Economic Development and other senior officials in charge of economic and financial policy visited the Inter-American Development Bank today to review the lending portfolio and discuss ways in which the Bank may quickly and decisively assist in reactivating the country’s economy and in targeting investments to assist the very poor.
The visit followed up the discussions between President Carlos Mesa and IDB President Enrique Iglesias over the weekend in Panama in which the IDB president emphasized the Bank’s commitment to provide support for the new administration’s programs for reform, stability and growth.
“The IDB and the international community are committed to assisting Bolivia with additional resources during its time of need,” Iglesias commented.
Economic Development Minister Xavier Nogales met with Iglesias and the manager of the Regional Operations Department 1 and with the managers of the Private Sector Department, Multilateral Investment Fund and Inter-American Investment Corporation.
Discussions focused on reactivating and redirecting the undisbursed portfolio of Bolivia and in speeding up investments in priority sectors, which include competitiveness, rural development, neighborhood improvements, schools and services to the poor. This is expected to result in $200 million in disbursements by the end of 2004.
IDB operations specialists from headquarters are presently in Bolivia and more missions have been scheduled in the forthcoming weeks to step up the support for the country.