NEW YORK (Reuters) – The new president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Brazilian Ilan Goldfajn, said on Thursday that the lender is in an ideal position to combat polarization while seeking to deliver more effective results. for Latin America and the Caribbean.
“In this time of global polarization and uncertainty, our future does not depend on being confrontational, but on being more collaborative,” he said in his inaugural address.
Goldfajn takes the reins at the IDB after the board voted to expel his predecessor, US-born Mauricio Claver-Carone, after an investigation showed he had an intimate relationship with a female subordinate.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro appointed Goldfajn as his replacement in October, and his appointment faced resistance from current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s team. At the time, Goldfajn was Director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund.
In his prepared speech, Goldfajn did not specifically mention the attacks on the headquarters of the Three Powers in Brasilia or the worst outbreak of violence in Peru in 20 years that claimed the lives of at least 40 people.
Goldfajn said people in the region “need better jobs, safer streets, quality healthcare, faster internet, better public services, better infrastructure and other essentials of life to which they rightly aspire,” and that the IDB is the institution “that can best help the region to fulfill this desire”.
He said social issues and climate change are among the areas he will focus on the lender’s priorities.
The Washington-based IDB is a major investor in Latin America and the Caribbean, behind nearly 600 ongoing projects in infrastructure, health, tourism and others. Accounted for $23.4 billion in funding and other financial commitments in 2021.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos)
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