THE Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) approved a total of 241 financing operations for US$11.7 billion during 2016 for projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Between the IDB and the IIC, disbursements exceeded $9.6 billion during the year, confirming the IDB Group’s role as the region’s leading source of multilateral financing. Both the approvals and the disbursements were in line with the priorities set by the IDB Group’s 48 member countries, such as ensuring that at least 35% of the new financing goes to the region’s smallest and least developed economies.

This was the first full year of operations of the renewed IIC, which is now in- charge of the IDB Group’s non-sovereign guaranteed operations. During 2016 it approved a total of 153 deals for US$2.26 billion, of which 100 corresponded to the Trade Facility (US$457 million). Of the larger transactions, 41% went to infrastructural projects, 40% to financial institutions and 19% to corporate financing deals. The IDB-led sovereign guaranteed operations went to state modernisation projects (33%), infrastructure and energy (30%), social programs (24%), climate change (12%) and trade and integration (1%).

During 2016 the IDB Group continued to implement administrative cost controls it had put in place last year, reflecting the austerity policies adopted by many of its member countries. The Inter-American Development Bank is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.