– Jagdeo
President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Friday that the account for the US$15 million he was able to secure from the Petroleum Fund to meet some of the liabilities of CLICO Guyana has been established at the Bank of Guyana but the funds have not yet been disbursed.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported that the Head of State in making this disclosure at a press conference on Friday at the Office of the President said, “The Caricom Secretariat has written to the Trinidadian Government and they have sent a bank account to the central bank.”
When the president returned from the 5th Summit of the Americas which was held in Trinidad and Tobago in April it was reported that he had secured money from the Petroleum Fund.
“Before I left Guyana, I said at the press conference that they were putting US$50 million from the Petroleum Fund into a special facility to deal with OECS countries that had problems with British American (Insurance Company), because they have some issues which are related to the CL Financial Group. I said, I thought it’s unfair… this is a regional problem and requires a regional solution… I argued for an additional US$15 million to come from that fund and to come to Guyana, and they have agreed that US$15 million will come from the Petroleum Fund to Guyana to assist with CLICO,” the President had said, GINA reported.
It noted too that on April 14, CLICO Guyana was declared insolvent with its liabilities exceeding its assets by $1.611 billion on a going concern basis. However, should the company be wound up, the gap between liabilities and assets could rise to $11.9 billion in a worst-case scenario.
Meanwhile, Jagdeo had noted that despite this, government would be taking a number of steps to reduce the liability-asset gap.
The measures include raising more funds from related party sources that Nizam Ali & Company, the author of the report on the local company, expected to recover, paying policyholders by cash and withholding payment to the parent company in Trinidad.
Other interventions include attempting to secure an injunction against BOSAI Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc from making payments on an outstanding loan of US$15 million to First Citizens Bank Limited of Trinidad and Tobago and challenging the classification by the liquidator, Craig Tony Gomez, of CLICO Bahamas that Guyana’s investment there was an inter-company advance and not a policy. Such a classification would reduce the likelihood of the investment being reimbursed.
The injection of the US$15 million from the Petroleum Fund, GINA reported, would reduce the gap further and with other interventions, the gap could be completely eliminated, negating the need to use taxpayers’ money.