WASHINGTON, USA – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Invest, a member of the IDB Group, received approval from its board of directors to increase its COVID-19 response to $7 billion in financing, which includes an additional $500 million in long-term investments and $1.5 billion in trade finance operations. In addition to the $7 billion, IDB Invest plans to mobilize capital from third-party investors.
Given the deepening crisis, IDB Invest’s Board increased its lending capacity to support new and existing clients who experience short-term financial or operational issues as a result of the health pandemic and economic downturn. The goal is to finance interventions that alleviate healthcare constraints, maintain jobs, restore supply chains and sustain sources of income, especially for MSMEs.
IDB Invest’s long-term support will come in the form of liquidity and working capital lines for corporates in sectors such as tourism, agribusiness, manufacturing and technology; bank, non-bank, trade and supply chain financing focused on underlying MSMEs; and infrastructure projects for ongoing developmental impact. IDB Invest is especially ambitious in the Caribbean and Central American countries, which will likely be hardest hit by the crisis.
As liquidity declines, exacerbated by capital flight from emerging markets, demand to support trade finance for the region’s MSME importers and exporters is expected to grow. In March of 2020, its Trade Finance Facilitation Program saw demand increase 245 percent year-on-year in terms of volume. To support clients and the underlying MSMEs that often benefit from trade finance in times of credit shocks, IDB Invest will increase its guarantee and lending program by $1.5 billion for a total of $3 billion.
To manage the high levels of demand for financing, IDB Invest is prioritizing clients based on their sound credit fundamentals; their environmental, social and financial sustainability; their contribution to the UN SDGs, and the demonstration effect in local economies.
