Conclusions

Conclusions and recommendations

Conclusions

The first-year execution of the Strategic Plan was affected by a huge health shock, a one-in-100-year event, which plummeted the global economy, including the Caribbean Region, into the severest recession and economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The impacts of the pandemic are expected to be long term, serious, and multidimensional. The COVID-19-related challenges, superimposed on existing vulnerabilities being tackled by governments within the region, will be an unprecedented obligation for BMCs and CDB. Preserving development gains, helping to rebuild and bounce back better, and advancing the 2030 Agenda will be crucial matters to consider for CDB’s strategic direction over the next decade.

Although the year was influenced by lockdowns, disruptions, and restrictions, the Bank responded with alacrity, as evidenced by the quick turnaround time to prepare and approve emergency response initiatives to meet the urgent and immediate needs of BMCs. During the period, CDB repositioned its operations by temporarily deferring elements of its work programme and long-term plans. This involved redirecting resources away from previously planned investments and disbursements toward emergency responses associated with the economic, financial and social fallout from the pandemic. While this action resulted in satisfactory disbursement performance and processing time, it delayed progress in new and cross-cutting areas outlined in the Strategic Plan, such as digitalisation of the public sector, advancing the Blue Economy, data gathering and analysis, as well as private sector development and public-private partnerships. Notwithstanding, the Bank’s amplified efforts resulted in a COVID-19 response and recovery package to BMCs amounting to $203.6 mn. This extensive financial assistance contributed to the largest approval in grant and loan resources in the Bank’s 50-year existence. In addition, the interventions are expected to assist BMCs to better cope with the tight fiscal position developed on account of the pandemic, provide liquidity that allows governments to allocate funding to the overstretched health care system and increase spending to areas such as education and social protection. The response also helps cushion severe poverty impacts that the crisis is expected to trigger towards protecting the most vulnerable including people living with disabilities, women, girls, and youth at risk.

Despite the slowdown in project implementation activities, CDB, in collaboration with BMCs, maintained some momentum on its strategic objectives and corporate priorities toward improving and increasing resilience for inclusive, sustainable, and green development. CDB’s support through TA, loans and grants, facilitated the completion of several interventions in 2020 in key sectors and thematic areas, namely, education and training, water and sanitation, agriculture and rural development, economic infrastructure, environmental sustainability, regional cooperation and integration, governance, private sector development including MSMEs, citizen security, and community development (through the BNTF and CDRRF programmes). Initiatives in these areas produced, or are expected to produce, tangible results across the region, supporting meaningful change in the lives and livelihoods of Caribbean people, especially in a post-COVID-19 era. In 2020, over 55,000 individuals, business owners, children, and women, as well as 1,300 households benefitted from CDB-funded initiatives.

The 2020 DER is the tenth annual assessment of the Bank’s operational performance. The review demonstrates CDB’s commitment to accountability and transparency to BMCs, its partners, and stakeholders. The DER will also be an essential guide for the Bank for the remaining strategy period and various institutional reforms such as the Transformation Agenda towards better operational performance and development outcomes.