The IDB plans to disburse up to $150 million this year to finance road construction and electrification works in areas of the Nicaraguan Caribbean.
Representatives of the entity in Nicaragua explained that the goal is to approve up to $280 million in loans for development works in the country this year.
In Costa Rica bureaucratic process and the slow pace of legislative approval for loans for infrastructure are key factors in the terrible record for execution of projects.
According to officials from the Ministry of Finance the slow implementation of projects financed by international organizations is due to "bureaucracy related to external credit authorizations and the time the project spends in the Legislature, pending approval," noted an article in Nación.com.
Interest and fees are paid for $781 million in outstanding loans, of which only $41 million have been used, 5% of the total.
The country pays interest and fees for a total of nine loans that have hardly been used. "Up until August, the Government paid a total of $3.8 million in commitment fees and interest on loans that were first implemented in the last four years ...", reported Nacion.com.
The IDB will make available $ 1.000 million over the next four years to develop infrastructure and energy projects.
Among projects to be developed is the improvement of the bay area in Panama City, programs to strengthen the energy sector, investments in sanitation and drinking water and programs which strengthen fiscal management.
Prensa.com reports, "Panama will receive an IDB loan for emergency contingencies against natural disasters.
Costa Rica's deficit in infrastructure was cataloged as 'very severe' by IDB experts.
Marcos Camacho, transportation expert at the Inter-American Development Bank, explained that the country needs $10 billion to improve vial infrastructure, "but not to reach a very high level. With this amount it won't come close to European cities, even less to North American ones, it will only come a little bit closer to some South American countries who have recently improved in the subject".
Costa Rica approved a line of credit from the IDB for the rehabilitation of roads and improvements to the road infrastructure in cities and national routes.
The loans for $850 million authorized by the Inter-American Development Bank (BID acronym in Spanish) were approved by the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica for financing of the Transportation Infrastructure Program.
IDB approved the loan for the repair of highways, bike paths, the airport in the southern zone of the country, and even for the Metropolitan Electric Train.
The Legislative Assembly will decide if the country accepts the loan or not.
President Oscar Arias called on lawmakers to vote in favor of the credit. "We respectfully asked the members of the Assembly to approve it as quickly as possible because we have waited many years to improve our infrastructure.
Nicaragua's Parliament approved the receipt of US$65.3 million in loans for highways and health services.
The first loan approved by the legislators was US$20 million from the Inter-American Development Bank for health services on the Atlantic Coast, mainly for repairs to the municipal hospital at Puerto Cabezas that was destroyed by hurricane Felix last September.