Washington, DC: Ilan Goldfajn, President
of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Kristalina Georgieva,
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) met to discuss
the details of an enhanced collaboration to support climate reforms and
catalyze private sector resources in Latin America and the Caribbean, within
the parameters of their respective mandates.
To achieve their goals of building resilient and decarbonized economies by
2050, countries in the region need to make substantial investments in
climate change adaptation and mitigation. Enhanced cooperation between the
two institutions aims to further strengthen combined efforts to identify
and design reforms and provide capacity development in support of climate
goals and can help attract such investments, including private capital.
The IDB and IMF already enjoy a strong partnership across the Latin America
and Caribbean region, with the IMF benefitting from the IDB’s longstanding
relationships in the region and its analytical and expertise at the
sectoral level. This has been further boosted through collaboration under
the new IMF Resiliency and Sustainability Facility (RSF) that was
operationalized in October 2022. The RSF was established to help countries
reduce macro-critical risks, strengthen economic stability and build
resilience by tackling long-term structural challenges, including those
related to climate change. To this end, reform measures under the RSF will
support countries’ mitigation and adaptation efforts. Both institutions are
looking for ways to deepen their ties to strengthen collaboration, building
on each institution’s expertise and capacity – to provide the best support
possible to countries in the region. Working groups are being set up to
work on the design and implementation of climate finance solutions both at
regional and country level.
In parallel, the IDB is designing a facility to identify, prioritize and
prepare a robust pipeline of green and resilient infrastructure projects
across all key sectors. It will also help governments in Latin America and
Caribbean in their upstream regulatory and institutional work. This is part
of a joint effort with other multilateral partners to help countries to
develop prudent and well-structured investment project pipelines,
consistent with their national development plans.
The IMF and IDB will enhance strategies for countries to accelerate climate
financing, including through policy reforms, capacity development support,
and evaluating tailored financing arrangements—such as blended finance
instruments, green bonds and others, including potential designs for a
regional green fund structure—with each institution acting within its
respective mandate - in order to explore further complementarities between
the RSF-supported reforms and IDB funding and guarantees, to scale and
mobilize much needed private climate financing.
IDB President Ilan Goldfajn said: “In the context of global calls for
enhanced multilateral cooperation among IFIs, we are happy to identify
complementarities with the IMF and work to adopt concrete actions in Latin
America and the Caribbean to address climate change. We are committed to
further explore strengthening our partnership with the IMF to mobilize
capital and to find innovative solutions to multiply climate financing for
the countries in the region.”.”
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said: “We are excited to start a
new chapter of collaboration with the IDB to help countries tackle the
impact of climate change, which threatens growth, jobs, and prosperity
across Latin America and the Caribbean. Vast resources are needed, so
working together is vital, and we see many complementarities between the
work of the IMF and the IDB. We look forward even stronger collaboration in
support of our membership as they address climate and resilience
challenges.”
About the IDB
The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives.
Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-term financing for
economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the
Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy
advice, technical assistance and training to public and private sector
clients throughout the region.
About the IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 190 countries,
working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability,
facilitate international trade, and promote high employment and sustainable
economic growth around the world by offering policy advice, lending, and
building capacity to its members. Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by
and accountable to the 190 countries that make up its near-global
membership.