Financing Development E-Book

Christian Asinelli

• Herausgeber: Vértice de Ideas
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Spanisch

Seitenzahl: 256

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

What is the role of development banks? What are the vested interests behind the negotiations between governments and multilateral banks to approve loans? Do development banks impose their worldviews? Does the political orientation of governments play a role?    Christian Asinelli examines three multilateral institutions (IDB, World Bank and CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America) in ten Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela), the political orientation of the government (pro-State/pro-market) and the typology of the loan (investment or adjustment) in order to understand the behaviour of banks and governments when implementing projects with international financing.    In order to explain the fluctuations, successes and failures of this relationship, the author draws on his first-hand knowledge of the object of study, as an official of the Argentine State and international organisations, as well as his academic training in the field of political science; in fact, the basis of the analysis presented here comes from the research for his doctoral thesis.   The author also adds the perspectives of Enrique García, former Executive President of CAF; Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB); and Carlos H. Acuña, an academic in the field of political science and senior researcher at CONICET.   This is a highly topical issue, which the crisis caused by the pandemic has brought back to the centre of academic and political debate as a problem for research and as a focus for action, and which offers us a historic opportunity to rethink the role and strategy of international financing, in order to place it at the service of the development of all the countries of the region.

Leseprobe

FINANCING DEVELOPMENT

Christian G. Asinelli

Financing Development

The role of multilateral banking in Latin America

Página de legales

Asinelli, Christian

Financing Development : the role of multilateral banking in Latin America / Christian Asinelli. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires : Vértice de Ideas, 2024.

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ISBN 978-631-90552-2-1

1. Economía. 2. Acuerdos Económicos. 3. Crecimiento Económico. I. Título.

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Copyright © 2024 by Christian G. Asinelli

© 2024, Vértice de Ideas

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Índice de contenido

Portada

Portadilla

Legales

Acknowledgements

Prologue

by Luis Enrique García Rodríguez

Prologue

by Rebeca Grynspan

Prologue

by Carlos H. Acuña

Introduction

1. Three models to understand the relationship between banking and Latin American countries

2. Multilateral banking: World Bank, IDB and CAF in comparative perspective

3. 21 years, 10 countries

4. Hypothesis testing

5. Conclusions

Epilogue

Epilogue: The response of international credit organizations to the COVID-19 emergency in Latin America

Bibliographic references

Appendix: Analytical Matrices

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Puntos de referencia

Portada

Portadilla

Tabla de contenidos

Comienzo de lectura

To Valeria, Valentina, Sofía and Victoria

Acknowledgements

This book aims to stimulate reflection and debate on the role of development banking in the region. The crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted more than ever the need for all our multilateral agencies to update and adapt to the new challenges of the 21st century. In this book, I combine my public service and experience in international organizations with my academic passion for political science to make a humble contribution to this discussion.

Regarding public service and politics, I extend my deepest gratitude to President Alberto Fernández for inviting me to join his team as National Director of State Modernisation in 2005, which allowed me to establish initial connections with international lending organizations. Fifteen years have passed since that experience. Today I am once again part of his team as Undersecretary for International Financial Relations for Development, where I work with all the multilateral organizations part of this book. Without that initial impulse and support over the years, this book would not be a reality today.

On an academic level, I express my gratitude to Carlos Acuña, who has not only mentored me as a political scientist but also has been by my side throughout every phase of my academic journey.

A very special thanks goes to Enrique García, former Executive President of CAF, who introduced me to the “insider” knowledge of the dynamics of development banks. His advice, guidance and great experience are reflected in these pages and in my professional life.

To Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General of the Ibero-American General Secretariat) (SEGIB by its Spanish acronym), who also honoured me with a prologue to this publication and from whom I have learnt about the importance of consensus to improve the quality of public policies in Ibero-America.

This book reflects the last fifteen years of my political, professional, and academic experience. Therefore, this would not have been possible without the support of hundreds of people from whom I have learnt, with whom I have collaborated, who have been part of my work teams, and with whom I have debated at length about the challenges of development for our country and Latin America as a whole.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have been an official of the governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. I would like to express my gratitude to Gustavo Béliz for his trust in me to be part of his team and for providing me with the opportunity to enhance my knowledge of development banks. Finally, thanks to Juan Manuel Abal Medina and Coqui Capitanich, who allowed me to be part of their work teams when they were heads of the Cabinet of Ministers and gained first-hand knowledge of the relationship of the Argentine State with these agencies.

Leandro Gorgal, Martín Olmos, Julieta Gallicchio, Lucía Rodríguez Torresi and Patricia Iacovone have supported me during the different stages of the writing of this book. Thanks for their patience, criticism, review and edition. To the team of Vértice de Ideas, for their work in the publication of this book. To so many professionals and friends who today are part of my team or with whom I have discussed these issues at length. Somehow, they are also on these pages: Jorge Srur, Mauro Conti, Roberto Pazo, Marcos Vago, Sabrina Scala, Laura Pelegrini, Matías Mana, Gustavo Vaca, Sebastián Putzoli, Sergio Chodos, Marcelo Barg, José Luis Lupo, Luis Sánchez Massi, Lucas González, Sebastián Mazzuca, Alejo Ramírez, Eugenio Ravinet, Max Trejo, Fernando Brun, Jimena Rivero, Cristina Tchintian, Maximiliano Alonso, Emiliano Respighi, Juan Notaro, Juan Fernández, Ramiro López Ghio, María Estela Moreno, Martín Lousteau, Fernando Straface, Víctor Rico, Ángel Cárdenas, Julián Suarez, Rubén Ramírez, Marco Enríquez Ominami, Emil Rodríguez Garabot, Paula Moreno, Silvia Pérez, Luis Scaso, Jorge Argüello, Ezequiel Galatro, Elvira Lupo, Linda Edelman, Julissa Reinoso, Pablo Abal Medina, Jorge Neme, Bianor Cavalcanti, Claudio Epelman, Lucas Nejamkis, Facundo Nejamkis, Alberto Barbieri, Kelly Olmos, Carlos Iván Rivera, Nathalie Gerbasi, Natalia Ortiz Mena, Alfonso Santiago, Sergio Massa, Rodrigo Zarazaga, Carlos Acaputo, Miguel Pesce, Zafer Mustafaglou, Fabián Perechoknik, Agustín Freixas, Vilma Ibarra, Sebastián García, Ricardo Pérez Nuckel, Ion Vilcu, Fabián Koss, Francisco Sánchez, Celina Cantu, Ximena Fernández Ordoñez, Bish Sanyal, José del Corral, Olinda Salguero, Matías Bianchi, Guillermo Laje, Viviana Alva Hart, Gerardo Serrano, Fernando Elías, Carlos Greco, Santiago Mazzei, Miguel Velarde, Jaime Paz, Hugo Flórez Timorán, Luis María Savino, Juan Pablo Rodríguez, Carolina España, Gustavo Rovira Salinas, Marlos Lima, Bruno Tomaselli, Luis Liberman, Luis Costa, Raúl Velázquez, Leonardo Rodríguez, Matías Sejem, Gonazalo Ruanova, Jordan Schwartz, Axel van Trotsenburg, Adrián González, Dante Mossi, Aníbal Torreta, Facundo del Gaiso, Mariano Mussa, Chris Andino, Norma González, Leticia Ferrón, Augusto Rago, Laureano Quiroga, Malena Galmarini. I am surely forgetting many others who are also part of this journey. Finally, to my wife Valeria Rago Ferrón and my daughters Valentina, Sofía and Victoria, who are with me every moment of my life. I would not be who I am without them.

Prologue

Luis Enrique García Rodríguez

Former Executive President of CAF-Development Bank of Latin America

Christian Asinelli makes a valuable contribution to evaluating the importance of multilateral development banking and, in this context, the role played by the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America in South America. This book is an incentive to deeply reflect on the future of these institutions in the new international scenario.

Examining the background that led to their establishment and their similarities and differences, the author explores the role played by the three agencies in ten South American countries from 1993 to 2013. This is supported by statistical data and by considering the results of an opinion survey conducted with a representative sample of over one hundred personalities, players, and clients who have had a direct relationship and significant experience with such institutions.

The book highlights that the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944 was a significant moment in the establishment of multilateral financial agencies, resulting in the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (IBRD). The former aimed to support countries in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and the latter focused on the reconstruction of European countries after the Second World War and financing projects that contribute to the development of developing countries.

One of the primary reasons to the emergence of such institutions is the insufficient domestic savings and the limited access to international capital markets that developing countries encounter, in contrast to the high levels of investment required to achieve growth rates that would allow them to narrow the economic and social gaps with industrialised countries.

The experience gained by the World Bank in its early years was a catalytic factor in the creation of regional development agencies. In Latin America, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), established in 1959, was the first regional agency globally, paving the way for similar institutions in other parts of the world.

Since their creation, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and CAF have undergone constant transformation processes. This was a consequence of periodic changes in international economic, social and financial conditions, which required an adjustment in approaches and priorities for financing developing countries. In this context, it is interesting to consider the dynamics of the incorporation process of new member countries, the update of their mission and priorities, and the adoption of new instruments, products and services undergone by the banks.

As an illustration, the IDB had twenty-member countries at the time of its creation—the United States and 19 Latin American countries—and today, there are 48-member countries, including Canada, several European countries, Japan and China. CAF, which began with six Andean countries, currently has 19 shareholder countries (17 from Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal).

The three agencies are also characterised by having progressively expanded their scope of financing and cooperation to both the public and private sectors, with a diversified range of financial and technical support instruments for economic and social infrastructure projects, productive, social and service sectors, regional trade promotion, as well as structural adjustment and institutional strengthening programmes. This was done in two ways: directly through the financing of specific projects and through international loans to domestic development banks and financial agencies, which in turn provided funds for small and medium-sized projects in the public and private sectors. They also resorted to setting up special funds and vehicles, subsidiaries and partner agencies in order to offer much more specialised support with a much broader range of financial instruments.

The high and increasing priority given to poverty reduction since the 1970s and to the environment in the last twenty years is a clear example of the evolution of the multilateral programmatic approach. A remarkable fact is that the IDB was a pioneer in including the financing of projects in education, health, urban development and various social sectors in the framework of the Alliance for Progress launched by the United States and Latin American countries in the early 1960s, a policy later incorporated by other multilateral entities.

A common feature of the IDB and CAF from their creation has been the commitment of both agencies to Latin American integration processes. As an illustration, the IDB was an active promoter of the creation of sub-regional integration institutions in the 1960s. As is the case for the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), transformed into the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America in the mid-1990s, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Financial Fund for the Development of the La Plata Basin (FONPLATA by its Spanish acronym). Likewise, it is significant to emphasise the role that the IDB and CAF have played in launching, coordinating and financing infrastructure projects for South American integration and border development within the successful IIRSA (by its Spanish acronym) Programme, established at the beginning of this century at the historic first Summit of South American Presidents, held in Brasilia, Brazil, in 2000. (Translator’s note: IIRSA stands for “Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America”).

In the analysis of the operations financed by multilateral entities, the author emphasises the borrowing country’s preference for traditional project-specific financing operations versus sectoral and adjustment programmes, which have been gradually integrated into multilateral development entities since the 1980s. In this respect, the research conducted leads to the conclusion that countries with macroeconomic imbalances and a pro-market policy bias have most frequently resorted to financing structural adjustment and sectoral reform programmes. Conversely, countries with a greater inclination towards pro-State policies, despite the possibility of freely available disbursements to fiscal accounts that contemplate this type of operation, have preferred the modality of financing specific projects to avoid conditionality in aspects related to macroeconomic and sectoral policies and the definition of the roles of the public and private sectors, usually part of programmatic and adjustment operations.

In terms of governance, a constant aspect of the IMF and the World Bank has been the significant influence of the United States and industrialised nations in the capital structure, voting power, and governing bodies of both organizations. One example is the implicit agreement at the time of their creation that the managing director of the IMF would be a European and the president of the World Bank a US citizen, applied without exception since the founding of both agencies.

In contrast, a differentiating aspect in the creation of the IDB was that, despite the capital structure and the separation of roles between borrowing (Latin American) and non-borrowing (US) countries, it followed the same model as the World Bank, and the founding countries agreed that the president of the institution should be a citizen of a country in the region.

Another characteristic of the IDB during the first decade of its activities has been that it operated within the framework of the consensus on governance reached between the United States and Latin American countries for the launch of the Alliance for Progress during the Kennedy’s administration. Over time, however, the United States began to exert increasing influence on the institution’s strategic decisions during the periodic negotiations for increases in the capital.

The role played in getting the IMF, the World Bank, and the IDB to adopt the market approach implicit in the Washington Consensus in the early 1990s, and, more recently, the decisions taken by the IDB in its relations with Venezuela and China, as well as the election of a US citizen as its president, are examples of the growing influence of the US in multilateral entities where it is a member.

As the book points out, the lack of separation between lending and borrower countries in the composition of CAF means that there are significant differences in the substance and governance of the institution compared to the World Bank and the IDB. Among the 19 current shareholder countries, only Spain and Portugal, although not part of the region, are also eligible for financing, as is the case. Another difference is that while the World Bank and the IDB have resident boards of directors in their headquarters countries, CAF has, since its creation, had a non-resident board of directors, which meets three times a year. The fact that it is composed of economic ministers, central bank governors and other authorities, and each board member has the same voting rights regardless of the size of their shareholding provides a much more balanced governance structure and a high decision-making capacity on crucial strategic issues.

An unfavourable aspect of the nature of CAF’s membership is the difficulty that the agency has in attracting resources in international capital markets, under conditions similar to the World Bank and the IDB. This is because it lacks the AAA rating that both banks have, thanks to the guarantee capital from the United States and other industrialised countries. However, this weakness is offset by the autonomy and independence in decision-making that CAF enjoys, which the other two banks lack.

As highlighted at the beginning of this prologue, beyond the objective analysis presented by Christian Asinelli on the strengths and weaknesses of the main multilateral development banks with a presence in South America, this book has the virtue of stimulating a reflection on their future role.

Bearing this in mind, it is important to be clear about Latin America’s current level of development and the challenges faced for the future. In this regard, it is a fact that, despite the progress that the region has made in the last fifty years, it has lost relative importance at the global level, as is objectively demonstrated by the relevant economic and social indicators. Structural constraints have been the main factors influencing this trend. These constraints stem mainly from the high dependence on commodity exports, the international prices of which are subject to volatility. Concentration on this type of export, particularly in South America, has repeatedly led to significant fiscal imbalances, difficulties in servicing external debt and inflationary processes in several countries, the reversal of which has required the adoption of severe adjustment programmes. Similarly, the low levels of domestic savings, investment and productivity, poverty and high and unequal distribution of wealth in the region require a renewed integral and holistic vision at the national and regional levels. There is no doubt that the dramatic impact of COVID-19 seriously aggravates the situation.

In such a scenario, multilateral development banks have a crucial role in direct and catalytic support. To succeed, they must adapt their policies, priorities, products and services to the realities of the new global era. In addition, it is crucial that they continue to increase their capital and maintain high-risk ratings in order to have competitive access to international capital markets. In the specific case of the IMF, the World Bank and the IDB, which have industrialised country memberships, it is also advisable that they adopt more balanced governance structures and decision-making capacity, which better reflect the current international geopolitical context and demonstrate a genuine multilateral spirit and respect for diversity in decision-making.

At the same time, for multilateral development institutions to play a closer and more creative role in supporting the region, countries must be willing to adopt a renewed and non-dogmatic vision in their development strategies and priorities. This vision must take a holistic approach, reconciling objectives of stability, efficiency, social equity, and environmental sustainability with the technological advances implicit in the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a reference platform. In this context, the priority challenge for the countries is to reinvigorate regional integration and cooperation programmes in order to facilitate the intelligent integration of the region at the international level.

Prologue

Rebeca Grynspan

Ibero-American General Secretariat

(SEGIB by its Spanish acronym)

“When we thought we had all the answers, suddenly all the questions changed,” the great Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti once said. This brilliant sentence, rather than a sign of frustration, is an invitation to continue questioning issues that were once considered settled.

This book by Christian Asinelli follows up on Benedetti’s quote by reopening the debate on the role of multilateral banking in Latin America and filling it with new findings, data and answers, thus bringing a fresh and refreshing perspective to a debate that is of the utmost importance for Latin American countries.

Two aspects add great value to this text. The first is the considerable amount of data, figures, matrices and cases that illustrate the different roles that development banks can play in each country or sub-region, depending on the focus and priorities developed, with greater or lesser success, based on the links they establish with stakeholders and beneficiaries. And secondly, the author’s extensive professional experience on both sides of the desk: both as a civil servant in different key areas of public administration in Argentina—from where he interacted with all the development banks in the region—and during his years at CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, in charge of a regional position that led him to visit and work with all the governments in Latin America.

These two elements give this document a greater relevance to the current global and Latin American context: its questions and, above all, its answers. In 2021, the region faces the biggest economic and social crisis of the last hundred years, and the role of multilateral financial agencies will be fundamental to deal with in the best way possible.

Not only do emerging markets face more significant challenges than their developed counterparts, but they also have more difficult financing problems. To be clear: We are limited in our capabilities due to insufficient resources.

According to the World Bank, during the pandemic outbreak, Latin America hardly spent a third of the amount spent in the US and Europe on extraordinary social protection. Not only is our fiscal space much more limited than that of the developed world, but we also lack the capacity to expand. And while debt markets have remained open, unlike in the 2008 crisis, interest rates are much higher and deteriorating credit ratings tend to tighten financing conditions in both the public and private sectors.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that effective international cooperation is the sole solution to the crisis. In his statement for the International Day of Multilateralism and Peace Diplomacy, he highlighted “the need to be multilateral in order to tackle common threats and exploit common opportunities. Now we have the opportunity for reconstruction to be better than in the past.” In this sense, Latin America and the Caribbean needs to prepare and lead with a single regional voice in the post-pandemic global scenario.

Indeed, development banks are (and should be) the ideal partners for advancing regional integration and development, and addressing the financing gap in our region. This is why recapitalisation is necessary to increase their strength and configure their instruments’ DNA for our intended purposes. We require effective policies that provide a clear path out of this crisis, establish the groundwork for a new social agreement, and promote an economy that aligns with sustainable development.

The issue now is not whether we are united by the question, but whether we will be united by the answer. In this endeavour, this paper sheds new light on the crucial role that development banks can and must play.

Prologue

Carlos H. Acuña

Researcher at IIEP-Buenos Aires-UBA/CONICET and professor at the School of Politics and Government of the National University of San Martín

There are several reasons to argue that the work in this book enhances the debate and provides strategic elements for discussing and understanding the role of multilateral development banking in Latin America.

As a scholar and researcher in political science, I appreciate initiatives that blend experience with analysis, practice with theory, and action with ideas. Financing for development. The role of multilateral banking in Latin America offers the opportunity to capitalise on specific public policy experiences related to international financing with multilateral organizations in political science and public policy analysis. The importance of this articulation lies in the possibility of obtaining tools, good practices and conclusions that strengthen inclusive and sustainable development in the region.

The book, based on Christian Asinelli’s doctoral thesis, which I was pleased to supervise, follows a crucial path in analysing and reflecting on the future of development in Latin American countries. Two actors are central in this respect: multilateral banks focused on the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, and governments focused the different logics and interests that structure their decisions and actions. In this way, it explains the practices and consequences of international financing and identifies areas for improvement that could contribute to the region’s growth and development.

This work offers a wide range of experiences, covering ten South American countries and more than twenty years of relations with development banks. The link between the actions of governments and multilateral organizations, conditionalities and the understanding of certain behaviours are clearly and solidly reflected throughout the chapters.

At the same time, the development, argumentation and conclusions presented show the richness of Christian’s profile for reflection on international finance and multilateral banking. The author combines his professional experience in the Argentine public sector and international organizations with an academic perspective, achieving a convincing and necessary balance in our societies.

The issue in question plays a fundamental role in Latin America’s development processes. However, 2020 has presented us with considerable new challenges as a society, a country and a region that have exacerbated the obstacles to development. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the structural challenges in decision-making, coordination, and implementation of public policies in our societies.

In this context, the role of international organizations and, in particular, multilateral banking, which provides financing, becomes more pronounced. Their role is not limited to resource offering. Now more than ever, we require international organizations to act as bridges, connecting, reassuring, and solidifying themselves as forums for discussion, exchange, and collaboration. These entities are essential for creating medium and long-term strategies and addressing immediate and pressing needs.

We are undoubtedly living in a unique moment that forces us to rethink established structures and processes, to mark a change and build new parameters that allow us to respond to Latin America’s major problems.

These elements lead me to recognise and highlight the importance of this book as a timely instrument of debate for Latin America. It is time to discuss ideas and actions that will make multilateral banking a real instrument for planning and financing the development of our region.

I invite you to use this book with the conviction that its analysis represents a significant step forward in understanding new and old regional problems, which will lead to better responses to the challenges of sustainable and inclusive development in Latin America.

Introduction

The relationship between development banks and Latin American countries has been, is, and will be an extremely important issue. Has this relationship been balanced? What lies behind the different negotiations between multilateral banks and governments when approving credit operations? Is it only an economic-financial issue? Are there conditionalities for the approval of loans that cannot be denied by countries? What interests underlie loan approvals? Have development banks dominated this relationship and imposed their ideas and worldviews on different countries? Do countries passively adopt the banks’ vision, or do they hold different views on the behaviour of development banking in their countries based on their political orientations? In summary, is multilateral banking the best partner for the development of our region?

On the one hand, there are many answers to these common questions among politicians, academics, international civil servants and, why not, citizens. Common sense might lead one to believe that multilateral lending organizations condition the release of funds on certain concessions made by countries. There is considerable literature on what happened in the region with the ideas of the Washington Consensus, its consequences and the reactions of many political leaders. On the other hand, officials from multilateral organizations believe they are there to assist and rectify government mistakes, which they often fail to comprehend, thus assuming a position of superiority over the country’s officials.

This theoretical and practical discussion led us to explore multilateral institutions and individual governments of each country to enhance our comprehension of their operations and constraints in project execution. This book seeks to answer these questions by investigating the balances in the relationships between the actors involved in this process. We have chosen a sufficiently comprehensive timeframe (1993-2013) to analyse various shifts in prevailing ideologies during those years, considering the different stakeholders in government and banking sectors. This period covers the Washington Consensus era and its subsequent evolution, enabling a detailed exploration of the social, political, and economic dynamics among the parties concerned. In short, a broad time frame allows for a more precise understanding of the social, political, and economic interactions among the involved parties.

To this end, in the first instance, the prevailing models of thought in literature are addressed, which in this book we will identify as the three models. The first model of “high autonomy of multilateral banks” focuses on the internal issues of the organizations and justifies their actions without much consideration for the needs or positions of the countries. Ultimately, these agencies understand the issues and the necessary solutions to move forward. The second model suggests the “lack of actor autonomy”, whereby the actions of both actors are controlled by structural-economic variables. The third model proposes “high country autonomy” where the political-ideological game is crucial in this dynamic.

We propose to incorporate the strengths and avoid the weaknesses of the three models to answer the questions based on the complexities of the actors involved in this game. This is accomplished by improving the comprehension of the actions of multilateral banks and country governments. The focus was on key issues that affect their actions. For this purpose, three development banks operating in the region were selected, focusing on their territorial scope: The World Bank (WB), with global territorial aggregation, which has the particularity of acting in all continents, including all the countries under investigation; the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with continental territorial aggregation, which acts only in the countries of South and Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico; and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), with regional territorial aggregation, which acts only in its member countries, mainly in South America.

Then, once the organizations under study had been defined, the typology of the credits that these organizations grant to countries was investigated, dividing them into two general categories: investment credits (for specific works) and adjustment credits (for fiscal matters).

By understanding banks according to their territorial aggregation, we can identify their particularities and differences in their relationships with countries, whereas by breaking them down into types of credit, we can learn about how they operate in each country and context.