International support for social and economic development programs
Cofinancing of Inter-American Development Bank-supported projects reached $990.6 million in 19 operations with 20 partners, representing approximately 22 percent of the Bank’s $4.5 billion lending program for 2002.
Four bilateral agencies contributed $29.5 million and four multilateral organizations funded $946 million for nine operations.
The World Bank participated in four of these programs for a total of $843 million. Eight cofinancing grants administered by the IDB were approved for a total of $1.05 million. This instrument, officially introduced in October 2001, has proven to be an effective and flexible mechanism, opening doors to innovative operations and nontraditional cofinanciers.
The IDB continues to strengthen its relationships with donors by more closely adhering to the partnership approach. Throughout the year, it emphasized the importance of strategic partnerships and new cooperative agreements. As such, it finalized memoranda of understanding with the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Commission and signed other arrangements, such as the Canadian Framework Agreement.
In addition, the IDB organized 20 coordination and consultation meetings with various cofinanciers and hosted technical meetings between donors and Bank staff, such as the workshop on water and sanitation with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Through this collaborative effort, the IDB promotes the understanding of respective strategies, policies, priorities and procedures with its partners while encouraging more effective project design, execution and evaluation.
The IDB successfully rekindled relations with former contributors while incorporating atypical multilateral, bilateral and private sector organizations into its donor pool. The mobilization of external funds multiplied the effectiveness of IDB resources, allowing for participation in new areas, such as combating HIV/AIDS, corporate social responsibility and women’s leadership in good governance. Furthermore, through use of a comprehensive donor matrix for selected beneficiary countries, the Bank continues to fortify donor coordination.
The Bank continued to act as a catalyst for the involvement of private sector commercial lenders in private infrastructure projects through its successful B loan program. In recognition of the growing difficulty in market conditions for Latin America as a whole, the Bank also teamed up with other co-lenders to insure those projects had sufficient financial resources to meet their objectives. Co-lenders include other official agencies as well as domestic financial institutions. During the course of 2002, the Bank closed $220 million in B loans with 12 financial institutions, bringing gross commitments from commercial lenders to $2.6 billion since the program’s inception in 1996. The total number of participants in the program grew to 73 financial institutions --commercial and investment banks, insurance companies, and other institutional investors-- representing 13 countries.
For further information, please contact the IDB Cofinancing Division’s officer, Juliette Zarafonetis-Balabanian, at (202) 623-2063 or by e-mail to juliettezn@iadb.org.