Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, today virtually participated in the Special Meeting of the Board of Governors to elect a new President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
On August 4, 2020, Guyana announced its support for the United States (US) candidate, Mr. Mauricio Claver–Carone.
In his capacity as Guyana’s Governor of the IDB, Jagdeo, addressed the meeting and stressed the need for the new President to tackle support for small states in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Further, the Vice President addressed the challenges posed by COVID-19 in the Region, particularly for Caribbean countries, including dealing with overburdened health systems, loss of economic output, revenue and employment. He indicated that many countries in the Region have had to redirect resources, from fiscally stressed budgets, for tackling the challenges caused by the pandemic to the servicing of onerous debts.
Jagdeo urged recognition of the peculiar circumstances of small states in Region, including the fact that some of these countries have graduated out of concessional financing. As such, he called on the Bank to ensure that creative tools and packages be crafted to address the needs of these small states.
At the meeting, Mauricio Claver–Carone was elected President of the IDB – the first US candidate to ever hold the post.
Claver–Carone, a Cuban-American, will officially take office on October 1, 2020, for a five-year term. As President, he will oversee the operations of the IDB Group, which comprises the IDB, IDB Invest and IDB Lab.
