IDB providing US$30m under Guyana-Canada sovereign loan pact

By Stabroek News On In Guyana News |
From L to R are: High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana,  Mark Berman; Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh; Canada’s Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, IDB Country Representative, Lorena Solórzano Salazar; and General Manager, IDB Caribbean Country Department, Anton Edwards  
From L to R are: High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana,  Mark Berman; Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh; Canada’s Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, IDB Country Representative, Lorena Solórzano Salazar; and General Manager, IDB Caribbean Country Department, Anton Edwards  

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is providing US$30m under the historic US$120m sovereign loan pact between Guyana and Canada.

A joint statement yesterday on the agreement which was signed on Sunday said that  the CAD$120 million loan, over a 10-year period will be disbursed in two tranches of CAD $81M and CAD $39M respectively. The loan will encompass a climate-resilient debt clause, which will automatically pause debt service payments if Guyana experiences a climate incident, natural disaster, pandemic or epidemic. A Technical Assistance Facility of an additional CAD$4.5 million will also be attached to the sovereign loan to support implementation of activities.

Canada’s Sovereign Loans Programme (SLP), the statement said,  provides loans on concessional terms to eligible countries, tailored to their needs and priorities as they relate to poverty reduction and peace and security. The SLP improves the breadth of support Canada can deploy and aligns Canadian international assistance with other leading donors.