Caribbean Development Bank Records 50 Per Cent Surge in 2025 Financing as Regional Infrastructure Investment Hits New Peak

Kingston, Jamaica — 19 March 2025

The Caribbean Development Bank approved 464 million US dollars in new project financing in 2025, a 50 per cent increase over the previous year and the highest level of approvals in the institution’s recent history. Disbursements also surged 30 per cent to 429 million dollars, reflecting faster execution of projects already in the pipeline. The results, presented at the bank’s annual news conference, signal a significant expansion in development activity across the 19 borrowing member countries of the region, with major investments in housing, airports, energy, water infrastructure, and education.

Key Investments Across the Region

The 2025 CDB portfolio included several projects directly relevant to the Caribbean’s housing and infrastructure landscape. In Barbados, 47 million dollars was approved for the expansion of Grantley Adams International Airport, which will double passenger throughput when complete. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 46 million dollars was committed to upgrade the Canouan Airport to improve climate resilience and connectivity. In Belize, a 30 million dollar line of credit was approved to support private sector infrastructure and energy projects, and a further 20 million dollars was directed toward student loans, low-income housing, renewable energy, and small business support.

In the Bahamas, the bank approved 30 million dollars for water supply improvements across the Family Islands, a project that will benefit approximately 5,000 residents in communities historically underserved by the country’s utility infrastructure. The bank also backed a 53.6 million dollar Basic Needs Trust Fund Eleventh Cycle to be implemented over four years across ten countries, delivering community development projects in essential services and climate resilience.

Tourism, Construction, and Economic Context

The CDB’s March 2025 annual conference also included an economic assessment of the region, which noted that tourism arrivals had exceeded pre-pandemic levels across several borrowing member countries in 2024, and that construction had emerged as a key economic driver alongside tourism, bolstered by infrastructure investments and private-sector developments. The regional debt-to-GDP ratio declined to 50.9 per cent from 55.6 per cent in 2023, and five countries including Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Anguilla, and Suriname received sovereign credit rating upgrades during the year.

CDB Director of Economics Ian Durant cautioned, however, that sustaining growth would require strategic policy action. “Strengthening resilience to climate change, taking steps to facilitate the diversification of foreign exchange earning activity, and maintaining sound fiscal management must remain top priorities,” Durant said. The CDB projected regional economic growth of 2.5 per cent in 2025, excluding Guyana, or 4.6 per cent when Guyana’s oil-driven expansion is included.

Sustainable Infrastructure as a Regional Priority

In November 2025, the Caribbean Sustainable Infrastructure Conference convened in Barbados, drawing together regional governments, development partners, and construction professionals to advance the agenda for climate-resilient housing, ports, coastal defences, and inclusive urban design across the Caribbean. Barbados’s Minister of Planning called on the region to “design, finance and build as though its survival depends on it,” an injunction that captures the existential urgency behind the Caribbean’s infrastructure investment drive.

The CDB’s record 2025 financing total reflects both the scale of the infrastructure investment challenge facing the Caribbean and the growing ambition of the region’s primary multilateral development institution. For the Caribbean property and housing sector, this level of public investment in airports, water systems, energy, and community development creates the infrastructure backbone that supports private investment in residential and commercial real estate across the region.

Source: Caribbean Development Bank, March 2025