(Trinidad Express) – A billion-dollar loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will be used to help develop sustainable energy and waste water projects and help with relevant technical assistance programmes in Trinidad and Tobago.
The $1 billion loan carries a 25-year repayment term, with a five-year grace period.
Finance Minister Winston Dookeran, who joined IDB’s resident representative Iwan Misser and several other Ministers at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s for the signing of the loan arrangement on Wednesday, said the loan carried a 2.0 per cent interest rate, but would be regulated according to the London Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR).
The loan will be broken down into three facilities to help in the various sectors—US$60 million for the sustainable energy sources, US$50 million for the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Modernisation and Wastewater Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme and a further US$50 million for the Social Safety Net Programme.
Misser said the loan was approved as part of the Country Strategy for 2011-2015.
“It’s an ambitious plan,” Misser noted.
“Trinidad is at a crossroads. The key is to improve efficiency and transparency,” he said.