(Trinidad Guardian) T&T’s healthcare system has been given a shot in the arm as the country will receive from the CAF—Development Bank of Latin America a loan of $340 million (US$50m) to mitigate the COVID-19 health crisis here.
This loan is in addition to the US$400,000 donation that the financial institution made on April 3 and will be complemented by further anti-cyclic support to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on economic activity, a release from CAF stated yesterday. “The present loan aims to strengthen T&T’s capacity to respond to and prevent the crisis caused by COVID-19, through direct financial resources and the recognition of expenses and investments aimed at reducing risk or mitigating the impact of the pandemic in the health of the population,” it stated.
“These emergency funds will back the Government in its efforts to fight COVID-19 from different fronts, from improving health services to preserving the country´s economic resilience,” CAF’s chief executive officer Luis Carranza said.
To cope with the effects of the pandemic in Latin America, early in March 2020 CAF offered its member countries an emergency regional credit line of US$50 million per country for health emergency investments, and in April 2020 approved a regional anti-cyclic facility of US$2.5 million.