The World Bank Group (WBG) deployed an additional US$20.7 billion to support the region in its just-completed fiscal year, ending June 30, 2022.

The World Bank said the funding is intended to deal with the negative impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic as well as to support the region’s response to the overlapping challenges of the sharp economic slowdown, rising inflation, and deepening food insecurity due to the war in Europe, among others.

This brings the WBG support to Latin America and the Caribeban (LAC) since April 1, 2020 to a total of US$49.8 billion to fight the health, economic, and social impacts of COVID-19.

WBG commitments during this period included a combined US$24.9 billion from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), typically referred to as the World Bank; US$19.5 billion from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to promote private sector-led sustainable development; and US$5.4 billion in guarantees by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

“The World Bank Group has provided strong support to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, reaching a record [US]$49.8 billion in total lending since the pandemic began,” said World Bank vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean Carlos Felipe Jaramillo. “As we look beyond COVID, our region faces important challenges, and we are committed to working together in critical areas, such as addressing education losses, regaining fiscal sustainability, strengthening health, acting on the climate change agenda, and fostering climate-smart agriculture and the digital economy, to build a more sustainable and inclusive growth that benefits the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, especially the most vulnerable.”

The World Bank’s financing and expertise this past fiscal year focused on social protection, vaccine procurement and deployment, strengthening countries’ health systems, supporting fiscal sustainability, and a green recovery.

In the past fiscal year, International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, committed US$8.7 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean, including mobilisation (US$3.7 billion) and short-term finance (US$1.8 billion). Since April 2020, when the IFC kick-started its COVID-19 response, it has committed US$6 billion in liquidity support in the region s— both COVID financing outside and through the Fast Track COVID Facility (FTCF) — which has helped expand lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and women entrepreneurs so they can continue operations, worked with financial institutions to promote green finance, promoted sustainable infrastructure projects, and supported export-oriented agribusinesses in region.

“Our priority in the region is to help the private and public sectors work together to overcome crucial development challenges and navigate the economic headwinds that our countries are facing,” said Alfonso Garcia Mora, IFC’s vice-president for Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. “In the last 12 months, IFC delivered projects with high development impact that help improve people’s lives, promote inclusion, and help drive the growth of the region’s green economy,” he said. “In the last fiscal year 47 per cent of our own account investments in this region were focused on climate-smart projects, and we are ready to intensify our efforts to strengthen a green, inclusive, and sustainable recovery so the region can reach its development goals,” he added.

MIGA, the world’s leading insurer of non-commercial risks, whose mandate is to help drive impactful foreign direct investment to developing countries, issued US$1.6 billion in new guarantees in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since April 2020, it has issued US$5.4 billion for the region.

“MIGA’s guarantees enabled foreign capital to come into the region to help build resilience to shocks like pandemics and climate change,” said Junaid Ahmad, MIGA’s vice-president of operations. “We are pleased that with our help projects, such as Port Antioquia, a major port in the region, were implemented, achieving important development goals.”

Since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic, total World Bank Group financing has reached US$272 billion to help public and private sector clients fight the health, economic, and social impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic.