Head of EDB: Development banks are those that can stimulate long-term investments
Almaty, 17 July 2013. How long-term investments can be stimulated in the current context of financial and economic instability? Igor Finogenov, Chairman of Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Management Board, discussed this pressing issue in his speech at the Long-Term Investments as a Guarantee of Sustainable Growth conference, which opened today in Moscow.
«Development banks can become leaders in this area,» said he. «They will ensure financing for infrastructure at a level, which is necessary for the sustainable development of the CIS economies.» Igor Finogenov believes that project financing in national currencies and infrastructure bonds are among promising instruments for the financing of infrastructure in these countries.
At the same time he thinks that, «there is no financial instrument which could, with a wave of a wand, reduce financing risks in an infrastructure project to a level that would be acceptable to all its participants.»
«The only solution is to diligently develop an effective specialised legislation, to carefully select and work on infrastructure projects that are of systemic importance to the developing economy and to form diversified syndicates which would effectively share risks between all stakeholders and a wider market,» concluded Igor Finogenov.
The conference has been organised by Vnesheconombank and brought together representatives from governmental authorities, leading international financial institutions, national development banks, Russian and foreign financial institutions and expert agencies of the G20 countries. The forum is being conducted in the run-up to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting.
EDB is the outreach partner in the G20 Finance Track for the period of Russia’s presidency of the G20 in 2013. The Bank’s role is to make recommendations for the G20 leaders who will pass a final communiqué at the St. Petersburg summit in September.
Additional Information
Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth, and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.
Read more about EDB at https://www.eabr.org