President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith on Wednesday announced that the institution is making US$ 700 to 800M available to help Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) recover from the impact of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The funding, which the Bank is providing over the next five years, complements its ongoing work to build resilience in the Caribbean Region.

“Disaster risk management and resilience building took centre-stage again in CDB’s strategic responses to the challenges facing our BMCs,” said Smith while outlining the Bank’s 2017 performance during his Annual News Conference on February 7, 2018.

“To incentivise BMCs to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure, CDB must be able to also offer grant and other attractively priced financial resources. But the challenges our Region faces are bigger than what CDB can handle on its own. We have, therefore, been drawing on a combination of our own resources as well as funds intermediated through CDB by other development partners to meet this challenge,” he added.

In 2017, the Bank mobilised concessionary resources from development partners to support more resilient infrastructure projects throughout the Region. Among them was the Second Climate Action Line of Credit from the European Investment Bank totalling US$144M including US$24M for emergency post-disaster rehabilitation.

Last year, CDB also announced a new US$70M fund, through which the Government of Mexico is providing grants to boost regional infrastructure in the Bank’s BMCs. In 2018, the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund, a GBP300 mn programme launched two years ago, will be expanded to include an additional GBP28 mn to assist in the recovery efforts in Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica, the President said.

Smith, noting that globally the Caribbean is the second-most vulnerable to climate change in the world, said he is optimistic about the Region’s ability to build back better and stronger.

“The Caribbean has had a long history of bouncing back from natural disasters and other external shocks. So, in the events of 2017, we see immense opportunity for the BMCs to come back stronger and more resilient,” said Smith.

Against the backdrop of increasing intensity and frequency of natural disasters, and greater vulnerability of its BMCs, the President also said that CDB is working actively to strengthen its own operations. The Bank achieved a rating upgrade to AA+ from Standard & Poor’s, and an AA+ capital market rating from Fitch Ratings in 2017, and now has a unified rating across the three major rating agencies, including Moody’s Investors Service (Aa1).

Smith also highlighted the Bank’s improved performance in 2017. CDB recorded strong growth in both approvals and disbursements. It approved capital loans and technical assistance interventions totalling USD364 million, up 18 percent over 2016. In addition, in 2017, the Bank disbursed USD233 million – an increase of 13 percent, compared with the previous year.

Meanwhile, despite major setbacks caused by the destructive hurricane season, the CDB is reporting a year of several developmental gains for the Region. The Bank last year approved USD364 million (mn) in loans and grants, an increase of USD58 mn on the previous year, which has paved the way for the implementation of projects that focus on strengthening resilience, building back better and placing the Caribbean further along a path toward sustainable development.

“This path will not be without challenges but CDB remains committed to partnering with our BMCs to make extreme poverty in our Region a thing of the past,” said Daniel Best, Director of Projects, CDB during the Bank’s Annual News Conference on February 7, 2018.

Pointing to the Bank’s flagship poverty reduction programme, the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF), in his presentation to media, Best said that the allocation of USD40.8 mn in resources from the Bank’s Special Development Fund last year is helping CDB to continue addressing the needs of the Region’s most vulnerable through the programme. In 2017, BNTF also expanded its support to include entrepreneurial development, particularly among the Region’s youth. The Director also confirmed that in 2017, the Fund completed 152 sub-projects across its participating countries.

Best highlighted that, through partnerships with international donors, CDB last year mobilised additional concessional resources for infrastructural development across the Region. The Bank, in collaboration with development partners such as Agence Française de Développment; European Investment Bank, European Union; and the Governments of Canada and the United Kingdom, mobilised and operationalised concessional resources for infrastructure projects spanning the agriculture; education; energy; and water and sanitation sectors.

In addition, CDB addressed the impact of the devastating hurricanes of 2017, approving USD104 mn in Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loans, Immediate Response Loans and Emergency Relief Grants that will benefit approximately 134,000 people in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, and the British Virgin Islands who were affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

“Such cataclysmic events are the new normal for our Region. This is why our interventions in economic and social infrastructure are rooted in climate resilience. For the first time, the Bank has incorporated community resilience and psychological support services in its recovery programming,” Best told the media.

Speaking to the Bank’s plans for 2018, the Director said CDB was actively working to fast-track the implementation of rehabilitation and reconstruction projects. He confirmed that key areas of focus for projects in 2018 include the continued advancement of energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives in the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries; addressing the issue of youth unemployment; investing in climate-smart agriculture interventions; and continuing support for the creative industries sector through the Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund approved in 2017.