Transformations, Ruptures and Continuities in IDB´s Policy from 1980 to the Present

PABLO LÓPEZ; MARCELO ROUGIER

Montevideo

Congreso; Séptimas Jornadas Uruguayas de Historia Económica; 2019

Asociación Uruguaya de Historia Económica

With the creation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in 1959, Latin American countries sought to have a specific regional bank in which they could play a greater role in the decision-making process in comparison to other multilateral development banks (MDBs), especially the World Bank. After the 1980´s debt crisis and in particular during the Washington Consensus at the end of that decade, neoliberal policies pursued in the region implied a transformation of the objectives and guidelines of the multilateral and regional development banks. Although the IDB did not change its original main mandate, it assimilated the structural reform agenda and changed the focus of its loans. From a long-term retrospective view, we inquire how the transformations in the mainstream perspective of the 'best' policies to boost economic development were expressed in the IDB´s lending policy during the last 35 years. At the same time, we explore if a larger participation of the borrowing countries in the IDB´s governance influenced the kind of credit lines vis-á-vis the specific needs of regional development, in contrast to the lending policies of other multilateral banks.