CDB, Mexico announce fund to boost regional infrastructure

A new source of funding to boost regional infrastructure could soon be accessed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understan-ding between the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Mexico’s development bank, Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior.
A release from the CDB on Thursday stated it will act as a trustee of the Infrastructure Fund for the Countries of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean (FIMCA) to support regional infrastructure development. As part of the agreement, CDB will act as a financial intermediary for the fund.
FIMCA will assist governments of CDB’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) with reducing infrastructure deficits that remain a major impediment to economic growth. Resources of approximately U.S. $70 million are available from the fund, and accessible through various financial intermediaries, to Caribbean as well as to Central American countries, the release stated.
“Substantial investment in upgrading and expanding the infrastructure is vital for job creation, and provides a solid pillar for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction in our region. The Mexican infrastructure fund will make a much-needed contribution to closing the huge infrastructure deficit that exists in CDB’s BMCs,” said CDB President, Dr. William Smith.
According to the CDB, deficiencies resulting from aging, non-climate resilient, inefficient, inadequate or missing infrastructure continue to adversely affect economic and social conditions in this region. It added that the passage of September’s hurricanes has highlighted those deficiencies and the need for urgent action.
Mexico joined the CDB in May 1982 as a non-borrowing member of the Bank while FIMCA was established in 2012.