The IDB is one of the largest multilateral sources of financing for the Latin America and the Caribbean region. The IDB provides loans to borrowing member countries at standard commercial rates of interest, and has preferred creditor status, meaning that borrowers will repay loans to the IDB before repaying other obligations to other lenders such as commercial banks.
The IDB has four official languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Its official names in the other three languages are as follows:
Governance
The IDB is governed by its Board of Governors, composed of representatives of the Bank's 48 member countries. The Governors are usually finance ministers or other senior economic officials. The Board gathers at an Annual Meeting in March or April to review the Bank’s operations and make major policy decisions.
The developing countries that borrow from the IDB are the majority shareholders, and therefore control the majority of the decision-making bodies of the Bank. Each member's voting power is determined by its shareholding: its subscription to the Bank's ordinary capital. The United States holds 30 percent of the Bank's shares, while the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean combined hold 50.02 percent, with another 20% held by member countries in Europe and Asia. This arrangement is unique in that the developing member countries, as a group, are the majority shareholders. Though this arrangement was first viewed as risky, it is believed by some that strict peer pressure prevents the borrowers from defaulting, even when under severe economic pressure.
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Presidents
Mauricio Claver-Carone was removed by the governors of IDB after an ethics investigation found that he had an affair with a subordinate and gave her a pay raise. The affair allegedly occurred during Claver-Carone's tenure on the National Security Council during the Trump administration.
Ilan Goldfajn of Brazil was elected on November 20, 2022, and assumed his responsibilities as president on December 19, 2022.
Mission
The Bank's mission and slogan is "improving lives." At its 2024 Annual Meetings, the IDB Board approved a new institutional strategy, predicated on boosting the impact and scale of the Bank's development work through reforms. The strategy's three core objectives are reducing poverty and inequality, addressing climate change, and bolstering sustainable growth. The Board also approved a doubling of IDB Invest's capital and a new business model, "originate to share," that aims to significantly increase its ability to mobilize private capital for development projects. IDB Lab reforms and a replenishment were also approved. The three major approvals have been dubbed "IDBImpact+" by the Bank.
