Ahead of upcoming elections, Jagdeo said he would advocate the widest possible support for Moreno’s re-election, and noted that the prime ministers of The Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica share similar views during recent discussions on the issue.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) news release, Jagdeo noted that over the past five years the IDB has aided its membership “to confront, in turn, unprecedented upheavals in the commodities markets during the global food and fuel price crisis, and the most severe global and regional economic downturn since its establishment.” It is also currently helping a number of its members respond to threats arising from climate change and its impact on the region’s economies.
During the said time, the IDB also approved debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries amongst its membership, including Haiti most recently, thereby helping to restore these countries to fiscal and external sustainability. “Furthermore, the Governors of the Bank have recently agreed to take the necessary steps to increase the Bank’s ordinary capital by the largest expansion of resources in the Bank’s history, thereby enabling the Bank to double its pre-crisis annual lending and maintaining the Bank as the largest source of multilateral finance to Latin America and the Caribbean and the largest of all the regional development banks,” GINA said. At the same time, a comprehensive agenda for building a better IDB with the aim of increasing efficiency and effectiveness is already being implemented.
Jagdeo said all these achievements occurred during Moreno’s presidency and are testimony to the vision and strong leadership he provided during his tour. He added that Moreno has brought to the IDB a commitment to development in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with diplomatic skills and experience, which have combined to the tremendous benefit to both the institution and its borrowing members.
