The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched the US$ 20 million (EUR 15.9 million) InfraFund to support development of infrastructure projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB has identified the lack of funding for project preparation as a major bottleneck for scaling up infrastructure investment in the region. InfraFund resources will be available to companies, governments and other entities to hire specialised consulting services, conduct feasibility and other technical studies, and carry out other activities directed to preparing infrastructure projects for financing and completion. The IDB has identified water and sanitation as one of the priority sectors for infrastructure investment. It plans to lend US$ 12 billion (EUR 9.5 billion) for critical infrastructure projects over the next five years.

Web site: InfraFund

Contact: Federico Basanes, InfraFund Coordinator, IDB, USA, federicob@iadb.org

Source: IDB, 11 Sep 2006

Tags: monitoring & evaluation