Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, is urging the Inter-American Development Bank to increase its financial support to Caribbean states to help boost development given their vulnerability to natural disasters, external shocks, and global economic volatility.
The Minister made these comments on Friday at the 2026 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the IDB and IDB-Invest currently taking place in Asunción, Paraguay. He was accompanied by the Executive Director in the Caribbean Office of the IDB, Navita Ramroop; Director of Projects, and Senior Economic and Financial Analyst at the Ministry of Finance, Bernard Lord; and Ronette Hetsberger, respectively, a Ministry of Finance release stated.
While commending the progress made by the Bank and highlighting that in 2025, the institution moved decisively from reforms to implementation, Singh also encouraged the institution to expand and tailor its lending instruments to country context, and to recognise and use local systems.
Singh addressed the vulnerabilities and needs of states in the Caribbean. “The countries in the Caribbean region remain amongst the most vulnerable in the world to more frequent and extreme natural disasters, external shocks, and global economic volatility. Our access to resources and financing remains limited, while our fiscal space remains tight to support our development agendas, and for these reasons, we welcome a bigger and better Bank with relevant and appropriate support for our countries. Even as our countries continue to demonstrate resilience, we require flexible financing tools, stronger private sector engagement, and targeted interventions to overcome structural constraints that hamper growth and support resilience,”
As Chair of the Caribbean constituency, he also submitted a statement further contending that the decisions endorsed by the region today, whether as independent sovereign nations or collectively as a Region, will no doubt determine whether “we can turn our collective challenges into opportunities for further accelerating economic growth, increased regional trade, and make sufficient investment in climate-resilient infrastructure for the sustained development of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Singh expressed the view that the convergence between the region’s development priorities and the IDB Group’s mandate, continues to present ample opportunity for partnership and that it was in this context that the IDBG remains a highly valued and largest development partner for the Caribbean and assured that the region is committed to strengthening that partnership.
Turning his attention to Disaster Risk Instruments, the Minister pointed out that as a disaster-prone region, the Caribbean welcomes the Bank’s new Disaster Risk Management Action Plan for 2026-2030 which emphasises prevention, preparedness, resilient recovery, and financial protection through innovative tools such as contingent credit facilities, catastrophe insurance, and climate-resilient financing instruments, noting that these tools will be critical in helping Caribbean countries strengthen fiscal resilience and improve preparedness for future shocks In this regard, on behalf of the Region, Singh acknowledged the Bank’s support to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa in 2025.
Homing in on Guyana during his speech at the forum, the finance minister highlighted the increased approvals and net financial flows from the IDB Group.
“We underscore the importance of policy-based lending as a flexible and effective development instrument which Guyana has successfully applied across many areas over the years such as justice reform, competitiveness, financial sector strengthening and human services,” Singh said but further emphasized that ‘the importance of tailoring lending instruments to national circumstances, including greater use of country systems to strengthen ownership, efficiency and sustainability’.
On the private sector side, Singh said Guyana welcomes the expanding role of IDB Invest in the country following its capitalisation and that this country looks forward to increased engagement to support rapidly emerging investment opportunities, including in areas such as transport and energy infrastructure, accelerating productive diversification and competitiveness, unlocking trade opportunities, and deepening regional integration. As such, he encouraged the financial institution to expand its use of instruments such as equity and local-currency financing to enhance the bankability and scale of projects for financing.
With Guyana’s focus on economic diversification, Singh, on behalf of the Government of Guyana, also welcomed IDB Lab’s continued focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, and scalable private-sector solutions, which, he noted, are essential for economic diversification and long-term resilience.
He concluded by reaffirming Guyana’s strong support for the IDB Group and its reform agenda, expressing confidence that with the completion of these reforms and the capitalisation of IDB Invest and replenishment of IDB Lab, the IDB Group will be an even stronger and more responsive partner for the region, the release added.
