Inter-American Development Bank Annual Report 2006

This Annual Reports contains a brief summary of the economic situation of Latin America and the Caribbean and a review of the Bank's operations in 2006. In addition, the Report contains a description of the Bank's operations -loans, guarantees and grants-; Management's Discussion and Analysis: Ordinary Capital; the financial statements of the Bank; and its general appendices. The Bank launched a number of major new programs during the year, chief among them the Opportunities for the Majority initiative, which reflects a shift in emphasis from the macroeconomic to the microeconomic. A second major innovation consisted of the Board of Governors' approval of guidelines to implement an expansion in the lending program to subnational entities without a sovereign guarantee, whether private, state-owned or of mixed-capital ownership. Two other initiatives fundamental to the Bank's aim of improving economic and social conditions for the region were the creation of the $20 million InfraFund to identify and develop major infrastructure projects and the $10 million Disaster Prevention Fund to assist countries in identifying the risks associated with natural disasters.