In interview, IDB President talks about Bank’s Annual Meeting in Calgary, economic perspectives

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) plans to increase financing to the private sector in Latin America and the Caribbean in coming years as it plans to boost its support for projects that have a positive impact on development in the region, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno said in an interview with IDBtv’s new program, Crónicas de Cambio.

“The IDB has been working hard to through our different private sector windows to attend to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, microfinance, and firms involved in major public-private partnership projects,” Moreno said, adding the Bank will provide further details during its Annual Meeting in Calgary, Canada, from March 14 to March 28.

During the interview, Moreno highlighted that at the meeting Governors will be discussing the steps taken to implement the Bank’s capital increase, including measures to improve the Bank’s development impact in the region and upcoming economic and social challenges. Last year, Governors agreed to increase the IDB’s capital by $70 billion, which will allow the Bank to lend on average $12 billion annually, double the average annual lending level prior to the agreement.

Moreno said a series of seminars will be held during the meeting to discuss investment opportunities and development challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean. Several mayors from the region are expected to attend the meeting in Calgary to learn more about a new platform the IDB plans to present to help develop sustainable emerging cities in the region, Moreno added.

Moreno also noted in the interview that Latin America and the Caribbean are poised to benefit from the current economic environment, particularly because the region is rich in natural resources, has a young population and a growing middle class and, over the decades, the region has built stronger political and economic institutions.

“The great challenge, the great opportunity for us, is to build a new 21st century economy based on services, quality education in science and technology,’’ Moreno said. “This is why I think that this will be a great decade of opportunity for Latin America.”