Jeddah, 22 June 2011: “The cumulative funding by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, as of December 2010, has exceeded US$ 70billion”, stated Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President, IDB Group, at a press conference today, announcing key updates of the agenda of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Bank and other important side meetings scheduled to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia next week.

The annual meetings will take place from 29 to 30 June 2011 under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and attended by a number of Ministers of Economy and Finance from 56 member countries as well as key officials and observers from around the world.

According to the President, the Bank allocated 40% of its funding through interest-free loans and affordable financing for programs and initiatives; 58.8% to businesses; and 1.2% for scholarships and grants to Muslim communities in non-member countries to support health and education programs among global Muslim communities. Group funding during 1431H (2010) reached US$ 7billion covering 363 operations which includes international trade financing.

In line with its objectives, the IDB Group supports the social and economic development of the Muslim communities in non-member countries through an endowment fund that it has established. So far, US$278 million have been provided for 909 projects in the health and education sectors in 68 Muslim communities in non-member countries. It has also granted US$ 440million in terms of scholarship and also to help countries faced with natural disasters such as earthquakes, droughts and floods.

During the Tsunami disaster, the IDB Group allocated US$500 million to support affected countries such as Indonesia, Maldives, Somalia, Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka. The Bank is sponsoring 10,300 Tsunami orphans who will be looked after until the age of 18.

Towards the beginning of the year, Fitch Ratings, one of the largest rating agencies in the world, raised the Bank’s long term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'AAA' and affirmed its short term IDR at F1+ making IDB the highest rated bank by all three largest rating agencies including Standard and Poors, and Moody’s.

The Bank was classified as a Zero Risk Weighted Multilateral Development Bank by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Commission of the European Communities in 2004 and 2007, respectively. All these ratings have facilitated the Bank’s efforts to mobilize financial resources from the international financial markets though the issuance of sukuk.

Approximately 1000 participants are expected to attend the annual meetings comprising Ministers of Finance, Economy and Planning from 56 IDB member countries; representatives of regional and international financial institutions; Islamic banks; national development finance institutions; and the Federations of Consultants and Contractors from IDB member countries.