CDB President announces up to USD 800 million for disaster recovery, amid strong Bank performance in 2017
President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Wm. Warren Smith, today announced that the institution is making USD700 to 800 million (mn) 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 USD144 mn, including USD24 mn for emergency post-disaster rehabilitation.
Last year, CDB also announced a new USD70 million 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.
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