The following operations were approved in recent weeks by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).
ARGENTINA
A $250 million IDB loan to help curb industrial pollution, improve environmental management, and control flooding in the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin.
A $82.5 million IDB loan to improve post-secondary technical education and increase the availability, relevance, and quality of skilled manpower in the labor market.
BAHAMAS
A $992,000 IDB grant to help establish geographic information systems.
BRAZIL
A $307 million IDB loan to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs by partly financing a project to interconnect the northern and southern electricity systems.
A $250 million IDB loan designed to increase job opportunities and better meet the needs of the labor market through a reform of the technical and vocational education system.
A $4 million IIC investment subscription in MG Fundo Mútuo de Investimento em Empresas Emergentes, which invests in small and medium-sized companies in Minas Gerais.
COLOMBIA
A $6 million IDB loan to help streamline information flows between the central government and the departments and municipalities.
ECUADOR
A $70.8 million IDB loan and $34.2 million in reallocated IDB funds to help prevent and mitigate flood damage and other economic and human losses resulting from El Niño.
A $15.8 million IDB loan for tax system modernization.
GUATEMALA
A $15.36 million IDB loan to improve the quality of primary and pre-primary education.
A $2 million MIF grant for private sector participation in technical training in rural areas.
GUYANA
A $41 million IDB concessional loan from the Fund for Special Operations to improve the country's road system by rehabilitating bridges.
HONDURAS
A $13.8 million IDB concessional loan for a pilot program in the city of Puerto Cortés to build a wastewater disposal system and reform the city's water and sanitation services.
JAMAICA
A $1,445,000 mif grant to strengthen the Financial Sector Adjustment Company, a government agency that coordinates the regulatory activities for banking and insurance.
PANAMA
A $1.4 million MIF grant to provide services and marketing information to small and medium-sized agricultural producers.
PERU
A $150 million IDB loan to prevent or reduce the costs associated with El Niño.
A $20 million IDB loan to carry out a judicial reform program, including the establishment of modern judicial centers with bilingual capability to regions and populations without adequate access to the justice system.
A $7 million IIC loan and a $1 million IIC equity investment in Industrias San Jacinto S.A., to modernize and expand sugar production.
A $2,700,000 IDB loan to improve the efficiency and equity of the tax system.
URUGUAY
A $1,325,000 MIF grant to increase the competitiveness of small farming enterprises.
VENEZUELA
A $8 million IDB loan to assist a national orchestra and choir system that benefits low-income youth.
REGIONAL
A $300 million IDB loan to the Inter-American Investment Corporation to support the development of small and medium- sized enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A $5 million IIC equity investment in Newbridge Andean Partners, L.P., a firm that invests in companies and provides them with improved management techniques and technology.