Above: IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno (right) at a road project in Haiti (Photo: Catianne Tijerina)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The member countries of the Inter-American Development Bank have approved a resolution authorizing a $70 billion increase in the bank’s ordinary capital, following a vote by the IDBs Board of Governors.

The vote concluded Jan. 31 and was carried out electronically over several months.

“Latin America and the Caribbean has made great strides in recent years, but faces great challenges in meeting its citizens’ expectations of reaching higher living standards,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “Thanks to this capital increase, we will be in a better position to help our region in its efforts to develop more responsive governments, more inclusive economies, more livable cities and more sustainable environments.”

The increase will become effective once countries deposit “instruments of subscription” for a total of three-fourths of the capital created under the General Capital Increase (GCI).

Once fully implemented, the IDB’s capital will be raised to $171 billion, the largest regional development lender.

As part of the GCI, the IDB will look to provide more financing for “small and vulnerable nations” among its 26 borrowing members in the region, focusing on poverty reduction, infrastructure, integration, renewable energy and climate change.

The IDB’s previous capital increase was implemented over a six-year period ending in 1999.