Inter-American
Development Bank

Banco Interamericano de Desarollo

The Inter-American Development Bank, the oldest and largest regional multilateral development institution, was established in December of 1959 to help accelerate economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Bank was created in response to a long-standing desire on the part of the Latin American nations for a development institution that would focus on the pressing problems of the region. The Bank's original membership included 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries and the United States. Subsequently, eight other Western Hemisphere nations, including Canada, joined the Bank. From the beginning, the Bank developed links with many industrialized countries on other continents and in 1974 the Declaration of Madrid was signed to formalize their entry into the Bank. Eighteen non-regional countries joined the Bank between 1976 and 1993. Today Bank membership totals 46 nations.

In addition to the Bank, the IDB Group consists of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF). The IIC, an autonomous affiliate of the Bank, was established to promote the economic development of the region by financing small and medium-scale private enterprises. The MIF was created in 1992 to promote investment reforms and to stimulate private-sector development.

The Bank's operations cover the entire spectrum of economic and social development. In the past, Bank lending emphasized the productive sectors of agriculture and industry, the physical infrastructure sectors of energy and transportation and the social sectors of environmental and public health, education and urban development. Current lending priorities include poverty reduction and social equity, modernization and integration, and the environment.

The Bank, whose headquarters are in Washington, D.C., has Country Offices in each of its borrowing member countries and in Paris and Tokyo.