The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has modified its lending structure to enable investment financing to be deployed faster and more efficiently.
The IDB‘s new Unified Investment Lending Policy (UIP) consolidates existing lending instruments, including loans, grants, and guarantees, under what the bank says is a simpler and more flexible framework.
‘Flexibility to scale what works’
“This reform gives our borrowing members faster access to financing when they need it most and more flexibility to scale what works,” commented IDB Group president Ilan Goldfajn. “It will allow us to combine instruments more effectively, work better with partners, and deliver impact at greater scale.”
New modalities introduced as part of the new policy will strengthen disaster-risk management and resilience, the bank noted, as well as making it easier to scale up financing for successful development projects, and support cross-border infrastructure and regional integration initiatives, and other long-term programmes.
Previous instrument policies have also been updated, with a simpler, more flexible framework.
In addition, the policy expands results-based financing, where disbursements depend on pre-agreed outcomes. This approach can now be applied to a wider range of projects, enabling countries to replicate and scale initiatives that have demonstrated positive results.
Emergency financing
Elsewhere, two new emergency financing tools have been introduced: an Investment Financing with Deferred Drawdown Option, which enables countries to secure funding in advance and draw it down immediately after a natural disaster; and Post-Emergency Financing, which provides rapid funding to support post-disaster reconstruction and recovery efforts.
The bank has also revised its Conditional Credit Lines for Integrated Projects, making it easier to integrate policy-based loans, investment financing, and technical assistance under a single strategy that can run up to 10 years.
The bank added that the new policy aligns with its 2024–2030 Institutional Strategy, bringing its practices closer to those of other multilateral development banks. Read more here.
