⁍ Mauricio Claver-Carone took the helm at the Inter-American Development Bank on Oct. 1.

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⁍ He expects to finalize a capital increase plan for the bank’s board by March.

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⁍ The United States is the IDB’s largest shareholder with 30% of the vote.

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– The United States holds 30% of the vote in the Inter-American Development Bank, and new chief Mauricio Claver-Carone wants to boost that to 40%. In an interview with Reuters, Claver-Carone, a senior adviser to President Trump, says the IDB needs to boost its lending capacity to $20 billion a year, which would “make a huge difference in the region.” That’s down from the $35 billion China was lending a decade ago, and Claver-Carone says concerns about Chinese lending to developing economies could help convince US lawmakers to back the bank’s capital increase. “It’s a huge selling point,” he says, describing Ecuador’s continued need for Chinese lending as “Exhibit A” for why the bank needed a bigger capital base. The bank’s new concept paper estimates the region needs $25 billion a year to deal with the H1N1 pandemic, which has hit hard with Latin America’s high levels of debt. Latin America is facing an 8.1% contraction in economic output this year, with only a partial and uneven recovery on the horizon in 2021. China pumped up lending to Latin America in the early 2000s, but backed off in recent years as a drop in exports caused by the US-China trade war cut foreign currency reserves. Chinese lending dropped to $1 billion in 2019 after peaking around $35 billion a decade ago, Claver-Carone said, citing data compiled by the independent Inter-American Dialogue think tank. Growing concerns about the lack of transparency in Chinese lending, especially to developing economies, could help rally support for an IDB capital increase.