The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) does not expect global financial turmoil to prompt Latin American governments to apply for emergency funds this year, IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno told BNamericas.
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"So far, we have not perceived more demand for credit from countries facing difficulty getting financing. The last country to use this emergency line was Uruguay and it already paid it off two years ago," he said.
Moreno said 20% of the projects IDB is financing today are credits that do not carry sovereign guarantees and that the bulk of the bank's financing goes to investment projects rather than lending to governments.
The executive said it is very hard to predict the extent and contagion of today's current global liquidity crisis.
"Latin America is better prepared than ever to face this situation, but my crystal ball is as good as yours," he said.
Last year, the bank approved new loans totaling over US$9.6bn for the Latin American and Caribbean regions, the largest amount since 1999 and 40.6% more than the US$6.4bn granted in 2006.
IDB is a multilateral financing source for economic and social and financial development for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The 49th Annual Meeting of the IDB board of governors will be held in Miami from April 4-8.
The full interview with Luis Alberto Moreno can be read in this week's Perspectives to be sent to subscribers on Friday.
