The Caribbean has unsurprisingly lost out in its bid to see its nominee assume the highest office at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the single largest contributor to development projects in the region after a former Brazil Central Bank President, Ilan Goldfajn, was elected to the position on Sunday.
The Brazilian was elected to head the bank in the first round at the Board of Governors, which comprises representatives of the countries that make up the bank. With the United States holding 30% of the voting rights, whichever candidate secures Washington’s backing becomes a virtual ‘shoo in’ to head the key development funding agency in the hemisphere. Goldfajn takes office on December 19. He was elected from a field of five nominees from Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Brazil and Chile.
