IDB Funding to Protect Employment in Belize

The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a loan for thirty million Belize dollars to support the sustainability of Belize’s micro, small and medium enterprises. According to the I.D.B., this program will benefit two hundred businesses in the agriculture, fisheries and tourism sectors which have been deeply affected due to their vulnerability to the COVID-19 crisis.  Thirty percent of total will finance climate change adaptation and mitigation investments.  The project will also strengthen the capacity of the country’s Development Finance Corporation to better serve women entrepreneurs, including the design of products and non-financial services targeting women entrepreneurs, gender awareness trainings for loan officers, and other key activities. The I.D.B. loan has a repayment period of twenty-five years, a grace period of five and a half years and an interest based on the London Interbank Offered Rate.