By Aaron Humes: Wrapping up the debate on the loan motion for the Caribbean Development Bank US$34.5 million loan to rebuild the George Price Highway between Belize City and Hattieville, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance John Briceño reviewed the Government’s performance on the national debt in response to Opposition criticism about increasing national debt.
“The approach to loans… has been limited to procurement of debt by way of project loans for prioritized areas like infrastructure, education, health, agriculture, MSMEs, and employment,” said Briceño, adding that the Government has also prioritized managing the cost of finance of previous and new debt, finding ways to pay off or substitute old debts with high financial costs such as legacy loans from the Inter-American Development Bank or U.S.-dollar Treasury Notes.
Briceño continued that the Government has benchmarked a three percent cost of finance per annum for external debt and negotiated with international development banks for more blended finance, of which the CDB loan under debate is an example. The Government has established a Climate Finance Unit to seek out finance related to climate resilience for projects.
The Government has paid off a $100 million overdraft at the Central Bank with eight percent interest left by the United Democratic Party government, and managed to reduce the average interest rate for loans to 2.5 percent from eight percent after negotiations with the Central Bank.
While the Government accrues more debt, it has gauged its acquisitions against the gross domestic product and kept the all-important debt-to-GDP ratio down as it begins to prepare for the repayment of the Blue Bond.
The Prime Minister reiterated that the Opposition should “do its homework” and seek out information instead of “not telling all the truth.” He pointed out that the loan funds will not be spent immediately, but over the length of the agreement, that the Government is repaying its debt obligations – $126 million in this fiscal year alone – and it has managed to save on costs, citing the Haulover Bridge as an example.
“We are unapologetic when we come here and borrow in the interest of the Belizean people,” the P.M. maintained, adding that his Government has been doing more in priority areas than any previous Government, and wants to do even more.
The post Prime Minister lauds Belize’s debt performance; ‘Unapologetic when we borrow for Belize,’ P.M. fires back appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Aaron Humes: Wrapping up the debate on the loan motion for the Caribbean Development Bank US$34.5 million loan to rebuild the George Price Highway between Belize City and Hattieville, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance John Briceño reviewed the Government’s performance on the national debt in response to Opposition criticism about increasing national debt.
The post Prime Minister lauds Belize’s debt performance; ‘Unapologetic when we borrow for Belize,’ P.M. fires back appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
