JEDDAH: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has decided to double the growth of its operation plan from 15 percent to 30 percent for the period 2009-11. This was announced by Ahmad Mohamed Ali, president, IDB Group, during an address to the two-day OIC-COMCEC Business Forum which concluded in Istanbul on Friday.
“This translates into an additional $2.5 billion in financing over and above the projected amount of $8.5 billion over the same period,” The IDB president said.
The additional financing, however, is sought to mitigate the impact of the financial crisis on the member countries and will be allocated mainly for infrastructure projects.
“Improved infrastructure in our member countries will contribute to achieving long term sustainable growth, and again, are likely to have strong positive implications for the private sector in the IDB member countries,” he added.
The IDB president’s statement was delivered on his behalf by Waleed Al-Wohaib, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Financing Corporation (ITFC), the trade arm of the IDB Group.
On its part, Al-Wohaib explained that the ITFC will also “scale up its annual approvals of trade financing operations in the coming five years from $2.5 billion to $5 billion.
