Narayan AmmachchiThe World Bank has claimed that it had mobilized more than US$29 billion for Latin America to recover its economic loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The international lender handed out funds generously, helping governments in the region to purchase vaccines and strengthen their healthcare system.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank, has lent a record amount of short-term loans to help the private sector stay afloat.
The IFC has committed close to US$3.2 billion in liquidity support, which has helped expand lending to MSMEs so they can continue operations.
“Latin America and the Caribbean was the region hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 20% of global cases and a third of global deaths,” says Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, World Bank Vice President for LAC.
“The high infection rates and sharply contracting growth have had devastating social and economic impacts.”
Another subsidiary, MIGA, also played a crucial role in helping the countries in the region to cope with the crisis.
MIGA, for example, issued guarantees on loans for the Bahamian government when it wanted money to modernize public hospitals and provide financing to micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.
MIGA is the world’s largest political risk insurance provider. Considering data released by the World Bank, MIGA has issued more than US$3.8 billion in new guarantees in LAC over the past 15 months.
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