Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has issued a caution to the government over it accumulation of debt.
In his accountability column in today’s Stabroek News, Goolsarran cited two recent loans from China which were announced on Friday by the Ministry of Finance.
In equivalent United States dollars, he noted that the country’s external debt was US$1.375 billion, compared with US$1.303 billion at the end of 2020. He pointed out that the Exim Bank of China accounted for six loans totalling US$240.451 million, representing 17.5 percent of the external loan portfolio. He adverted to Friday’s signing of the two loan agreements with the China in the sums of US$192 million and US$172 million for the East Coast Demerara road expansion project and the construction of the New Demerara Harbour Bridge, respectively.