sentences:  The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was instrumental in restructuring Nicaragua's technically bankrupt banking sector.In December 1991, the IDB approved a US$3 million technical cooperation grant to restructure the Central Bank, and in March 1992, it approved a US$3 million loan to a new commercial bank, the Mercantile Bank (Banco Mercantil).The Mercantile Bank program was expected to make loans available to small and medium-sized private-sector enterprises and to finance investments to bolster fixed assets and create permanent working capital.