Pact With Inter-American Bank: The Bush Administration...

Pact With Inter-American Bank: The Bush Administration has ended a two-year-long impasse with Latin American governments over the Inter-American Development Bank and has agreed to a major expansion of the 44-country institution’s lending resources. The accord, which climaxes three years of negotiations, will virtually double the available lending resources of the IDB--to $22.5 billion over the next four years. It also will allow the bank to make broad-scale loans designed to help debtor countries overhaul their own economic policies. Under the compromise, a loan can be delayed for up to two months at the request of any one board member; two members could delay it for an additional five months.