2025

Journal Article - Link (English) - 2025

Over the last four decades, the provision of economic infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean has been marked by significant contrasts, reflecting the region's high political, economic, and social volatility. Despite notable progress, the region still faces substantial challenges compared to other regions and its domestic requirements. Limited information on quantitative and qualitative infrastructure indicators and investment hampers comprehensive analysis.

Research focused on the region highlights the critical role of infrastructure in promoting economic growth, reducing inequality, and alleviating poverty. Studies demonstrate that inadequate infrastructure investment has significantly hindered the region's economic development. Furthermore, there is a growing need to broaden the definition of infrastructure and improve its measurement to reflect its economic impact better.

To achieve long-term growth and development, the region must prioritize the adequate provision and access to infrastructure and its associated services in terms of quantity and quality within a framework of adequate and stable regulations. This approach aligns with the strategies of currently advanced economies and is essential for addressing the region's economic and social challenges.

Working Paper - Link (English) - 2025

This study examines the role of green, social, sustainable, and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds in financing the energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It combines a descriptive assessment of sectoral bond issuance patterns from 2014 to 2024 with an econometric exercise focusing on the region’s top five issuers. The results indicate that GSSS bonds have contributed to the expansion of renewable energy capacity but have not yet produced a structural shift in the overall energy mix. These findings underscore both the opportunities and limitations of sustainable finance, highlighting the importance of complementary policies, market reforms, and effective governance to maximize its transformative potential.

Working Paper - Link (English) - 2025

Financing the transition to a green economy in Latin America and the  Caribbean demands innovative approaches to address the region’s significant investment gap, estimated at 7%–11% of GDP annually by 2050. This publication focuses on the financial strategies underpinning green productive development policies, which make up a transformative and comprehensive framework that integrates economic goals with environmental sustainability.

Key insights include strategies to reallocate subsidies, lower capital costs and foster private sector investment through blended finance and institutional capital. Innovative tools like green, social and sustainability-linked bonds have emerged as pivotal instruments to channel investments into priority areas and must be enhanced. However, in order to scale up sustainable financing, systemic barriers such as underdeveloped financial markets, regulatory inefficiencies and macroeconomic instability must be addressed. This report also emphasizes the role of robust governance and regional collaboration in optimizing resource allocation, and offers actionable recommendations that provide policymakers and stakeholders with a financial road map to harness green productive development policies as a catalyst for sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth in the region.