CABEI is capitalized with $5 billion

Tegucigalpa, Honduras, April 30, 2009

Action was taken in order to continue its key role as the primary development bank of the Central American region. The board of governors of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) agreed, as a conclusion to its 49th ordinary meeting, that the authorized capital of CABEI will be of US$5 billion, to continue attending efficiently the growing needs of financing of Central America and its beneficiary countries. The increase to the authorized capital of CABEI, which goes from US$2 billion to US$5 billion shows that CABEIs shareholders recognized immediately the relevance of the institution for Central America, making CABEI the first multilateral bank that finishes the process of capitalization against the present conjuncture. To this, CABEIs executive president, Nick Rischbieth, emphasized that this has been a moment in which history has been written, because the decisions made by the Board of Governors of CABEI will take an important space in the annals of Central American and Mesoamerican integration. “It is an indispensible backup for the Bank to improve its relevance in the region, not only in the middle of the economic crisis, but also during the whole next decade for all Central America and its beneficiary countries”, assured Rischbieth. The Board of Governors, maximum authority of the Bank, took also the necessary measures to implement the capitalization process of CABEI, which at the same time, lays the ground to include new shareholders to its base, increasing the opportunity to attract resources to the region, channeled by capital contributions to CABEI, technical cooperation, financial assistance funds, and other mechanisms, for the benefit of Central American countries. With this decision, it is clear that the founding member countries of CABEI strengthen their commitment to support in a decisive way the primary financial institution of the Central American Integration System (SICA – Sistema de Integración Centroamericana, in Spanish), which in 2010, turns 50 years old. Relevant role for Central America CABEIs Executive President, Nick Rischbieth, pointed out the importance of the 49th Meeting of the Board of Governors, as it was made in the middle of the critical phase that the world economy is going through, and reassures the commitment of the Bank to continue with the most relevant role of contribution to the development of the Central American region. The performance of CABEI in the last years has been the most important for Central America, as it has transformed into the multilateral institution that destines the greatest amount of resources to the region, giving it in 2008, 1661 million dollars to the five Central American countries, amount which is equivalent to 60% of the contributions of all multilateral banking. As the president of CABEI remarked, “Against an international crisis, the Bank has risen as an essential instance. To USA, CABEI has been mentioned as the ideal instance to channel fresh resources to the region and become the instrument for the mandate of the last G-20 meeting that took place in London”. Nick Rischbieth pointed out at the same time that “the economy ministers of the area have also pointed that CABEI should be the financial arm of the DR-CAFTA: the still missing element of the Free Trade Treaty. And something similar has happened with the European Union, when there are even talks that the European Union or some of its members could include themselves as shareholders of CABEI”, said CABEIs president.