President of Honduras, Evo Morales, waves to journalists
outside the Hyatt Regency Trinidad Hotel, Port-of-Spain,
where the Fifth Summit of the Americas was held from April
17-19. PHOTO: ANGELO MARCELLE

Prime Minister Patrick Manning says the time has come to properly capitalise the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for developmental purposes in the Western Hemisphere. Manning said the G20 developed nations had agreed, when they met earlier this month in London, to increase funding to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by US$500 billion.

“The time has come to properly capitalise the Inter-American Development Bank and to ensure that our voices are heard at a time when the allocation of those resources will be taking place,” Manning said yesterday. He was speaking at a press conference held at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, following the closing ceremony for the Fifth Summit of the Americas. Manning said that following the G20 announcement, there was reservation about how that US$500 billion would be allocated. “If you would recall, US$500 billion have been allocated to supplement the resources of the IMF,” Manning said.

“Another US$250 billion have been allocated for developmental purposes and developmental agencies. And the critical question for us: how will that US$250 billion be disposed of as between one agency and the next? “The fear in the Western Hemisphere was that the bulk of that money might go to Europe in circumstances where the IADB right now is under-capitalised and where the requirements for cash for developmental purposes in the Western Hemisphere are increasing as a consequence of the econonic circumstances in which we have found ourselves,” Manning said.

Regarding the cost of hosting the summit, Manning said what will justify the expense of the three-day event will be the extent to which T&T will attract investments to the country in the long run. One visiting president arrived with 15 “senior businessmen” to look at investment possibilities in T&T, he said. Manning said the leaders, in meeting in retreat yesteray morning, asked Haitian President, Rene Preval, to outline the challenges facing his country. “He outlined a position to us that causes us all to recognise that Haiti today and what exists in Haiti today is a credit to none of us,” Manning said.