Inter-American Development Bank to Tackle Poverty, Climate Change

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) proposed several changes to further develop Latin American countries through a series of institutional reforms and a change in its business model to tackle poverty, inequality, climate change and the need for digitization. IDB’s Board of Governors approved a carefully traced roadmap to carry out a series of institutional reforms, while endorsing a proposal that seeks to increase the capital of its investment arm, IDB Invest.

IDB’s plan aims to promote ambitious, trade-friendly climate actions, protect biodiversity, increase green finance and further advance gender equality, while creating greater capacity to respond to the needs of the region’s investment needs. The plan also aims to promote the creation of formal jobs and add a new value proposition for the bank that will enhance its ability to address social issues, strengthen the private sector and fight climate change.

“In 2021, a record year for us, it was shown that the IDB can optimize its balance sheet and mobilize resources; however, the new IDB can achieve even more. We live in a historic moment for the IDB and IDB Invest. The measures adopted by the Assemblies imply that we are gaining the vigor, flexibility and tools that are needed to support the urgent needs of Latin America and the Caribbean in the 21st century”, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, President, IDB, at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank via a press release.

The Mexican government and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) already developed a financing strategy worth US$500 million to create a credit program for SMEs that will promote financing. Both entities seek to promote the reactivation of the Mexican economy while helping SMEs stabilize after the COVID-19 pandemic and recent shortages in supply chains due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as reported by MBN.

The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) readjusted its GDP predictions for 2022, lowering the estimated 4.2 percent expected growth to a figure between 1.6-3.2 percent. The last report was modified to consider the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which caused major changes in the experts’ prediction of Mexico’s growth, as reported by MBN.