The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $100 million fast-disbursing sector loan to the Dominican Republic to support the implementation of new monetary and financial legislation and strengthen its banking system.
This loan and a $200 million emergency loan approved by the IDB’s board in January are part of an assistance package offered to the Dominican Republic by international financial institutions to help its government overcome a crisis triggered by bank collapses in 2003.
The program supported by the new loan will be carried out by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, the Banking Superintendency and the National Housing Bank. Its components are designed to strengthen these three agencies.
Among the key goals of this program are promoting competition and increasing transparency and efficiency in the Dominican banking system, as well as fostering appropriate conditions to ensure its solvency by bolstering banks’ capacity to withstand domestic or foreign shocks.
The loan reflects the IDB’s strategy of supporting the Dominican Republic’s efforts to maintain macroeconomic stability and reduce the financial sector’s vulnerability. The new program will support the modernization of the banking system’s legal and regulatory framework to bring it up to internationally recognized standards.
The loan is for a 20-year term, with a five-year grace period, and at a variable interest rate. Interest payments will be partially covered with resources from the IDB’s Intermediate Financing Facility. Disbursements will be carried out in three tranches over a minimum of 18 months. The tranches will be of $40 million, $20 million and $40 million.