This initiative was delivered as part of the GI Hub Country Engagement Program with Brazil.
Summary
The GI Hub collated relevant facts to support policy specialists in making decisions on approaching foreign currency exchange (forex) risk in infrastructure. The initiative involved gathering and analysing experiences and information to deliver a report on forex risk mitigation that benchmarked global leading experiences and instruments that address the foreign currency exchange risks in infrastructure transactions.
Focus areas
The focus areas were:
- Undertaking a benchmarking exercise to understand different approaches to attract hedge counterparts to project finance transactions
- Undertaking benchmarking of different practices from across the globe on providing long-term hedging for infrastructure investments
- Collecting detailed case studies that highlight best practices.
Stakeholder engagement
The key stakeholder for this initiative was the Secretariat of Infrastructure Development within Brazil's Ministry of Economy. The GI Hub also engaged with Brazil’s Ministry of Infrastructure, its national development bank, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) and the International Finance Corporation. Consultants Mayer Machado were engaged to undertake the benchmarking exercise and developed the detailed case studies.
The Inter-American Development Bank partnered in the delivery of this work.
Core activities
Core activities of the GI Hub included:
- Demonstrating the extent to which countries use hedging instruments and mechanisms to boost foreign infrastructure investments
- Providing details of how these instruments work and how they are being implemented in infrastructure transactions
- Raising awareness of innovative approaches to mitigate currency risks in funding and financing infrastructure.