2025 November 14 – The Pacific Islands Development Bank (PIDB) acknowledges the circulation and publication of a resignation letter attributed to former Emeritus Director Diego T. Benavente. On behalf of the Bank, we express our sincere appreciation for Director Benavente’s many years of service and contributions to PIDB and to regional development.

PIDB’s focus remains on its mission: to accelerate economic and social development for our members, individually and collectively and to promote regional cooperation. This entails mobilizing and managing development finance that strengthens resilience, supports small and growing businesses, advances infrastructure, and expands opportunity across our member jurisdictions in Micronesia. In recent years, the Bank has implemented important improvements to policy and procedures, modernized risk and compliance practices, and introduced clearer operational standards. New capital contributions from our members have expanded our lending capacity, enabled growth in our pipeline, and opened additional opportunities for partnership and strengthened regional cooperation.

As a regional financial institution, management must enforce policies and internal controls to maintain the integrity of our systems and operations. The Bank has established, formal processes—consistent with its governing instruments—for raising, reviewing, and addressing concerns about management decisions. Those processes exist precisely so that issues can be handled fairly and professionally. We will therefore not engage in defending actions or debating facts in the court of public opinion, nor will we comment on individual personnel matters.

It is a reality in any organization that difficult personnel decisions can lead to disagreement and, at times, public criticism. While we understand that emotions can run high, PIDB remains mission-oriented, and decisions by policymakers and management are made with objectivity and in the best interests of the institution and the communities we serve.

We are grateful to our member governments and stakeholders for their continued confidence. PIDB will continue to operate with integrity and discipline as we deliver on our development mandate for the region.