International Groups Offer Latin America More Loans

Looking to shore up the finances of Latin American nations affected by the global financial crisis, the Inter-American Development Bank said it will offer a new $6 billion credit line to member governments, as well as increase its more traditional lending for specific projects. The move came as international financial institutions across the world, including the World Bank and the IMF, are gearing up to help member nations. The IADB's announcement was unusually specific about the amount of money it is making available. It also said it is joining forces with other multilateral organizations in an effort to marshal more resources. Also recently, the Andean Development Corp., which makes loans to Andean-region countries, announced new contingency liquidity credit line for $1.5 billion. For its part, the World Bank said it can double the $5B in annual lending it usually makes to Latin American countries. The two Latin American orgs. generally lend to governments, which in this case will make money available to commercial banks that are having trouble getting credit. Ultimately, the money would be loaned to domestic firms. World Bank loans are made to governments and are generally used for government projects and policy reforms. Additionally, Latin American Reserve Fund, that makes loans to central banks in the region, said it would make available up to $4.5 billion in contingency lines. IADB