Sustainable Financing of Economic and Social Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean: Trends, Key Agents, and Instruments

While the region displays enormous potential for public investment efficiency gains, in other words, getting more out of fewer resources it is critical to boost mechanisms that incentivize more active and sustainable investments from the private sector. The private sectors participation can contribute to improve the development, operation, and maintenance of assets and infrastructure service provision in times of crisis, as well as to preserve appropriate investment levels amid enormous fiscal difficulties. Private participation in infrastructure asset financing, construction, and operation in the region is decisive to promote quality infrastructure services, contributing to the regions economic growth, and to reducing inequality among its inhabitants by granting them access to more and better opportunities. Understanding how economic and social infrastructure is funded and financed in the region and how to boost and diversify the presence of public and private investors with different profiles is crucial to generate and/or improve the conditions to attract more and better financing, and therefore covering unmet investment needs.