16 February 2010
Brazil and Argentina called on Friday for reforms at the Inter-American Development Bank, saying the regional lender had failed to understand the needs of Latin America during the global financial crisis.
Source: Reuters
Reporting by Walter Brandimarte; Editing by James Dalgleish
"Our joint assessment is that the IADB hasn't had a satisfactory performance in the region," Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega told a news conference. "We will propose that the IADB has a new management that is more efficient and beneficial for the region."
Argentine Economy Minister Amado Boudou said Latin American countries are the bank's main stakeholders and "should also be the main beneficiaries of its credit policies."
"We believe some key changes are needed," he added.
The Washington-based IADB is a key source of multilateral financing for Latin America. Governments in the region have pledged to boost the the bank's dwindling reserves to help it fight the effects of the financial crisis, but as a condition they want a bigger say over bank policies.
The IADB needs between $5 billion and $6 billion in new capital, and it is not clear how much of that would come from Latin America.