Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr Ashni Singh presented five external loan agreements to the National Assembly on Thursday.
These include agreements signed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for US$30 million; the International Development Association (IDA) for US$35 million; a sovereign loan from Canada intermediated by the IDB for Cdn$120 million, the Bank of China for €160.85 million and UniCredit Bank Austria AG for €135 million.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Finance, the US$30 million from the IDB will finance the execution of a policy-based reform programme to support human services in Guyana. Under this loan, Singh said, the government will be implementing the digital transformation of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security; strengthening the senior citizens pension programme, empowering people living with disabilities and supporting gender empowerment, the release said. This agreement, Singh told the National Assembly, is in line with the government’s agenda to improve the delivery of services to pensioners and the well-being of people with disabilities.
The IDA loan from the World Bank which the government signed on December 15, 2023 for US$35 million will support the Enhancing Policies for Human Capital Accumulation Development Policy Financing Programme. The loan, the release said, primarily supports a reform programme to recover learning and schooling losses and increase access to quality education for all, and build a more responsive education system offering improved opportunities for all in the new economy.
The sovereign loan from Canada, intermediated through the IDB and signed on December 22, 2023, between the Governments of Guyana and Canada for Cdn$120 million will support the budget of Guyana, including social protection priorities in combating human trafficking, gender-based violence, women’s economic empowerment and enhancement of the safety net for vulnerable populations.
The sovereign loan programme, according to the release, will contribute substantially to efforts already being made by the government through the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. The loan programme also features a climate-resilient debt clause to access funds in the event that Guyana experiences a climate incident, a natural disaster, a pandemic or an epidemic.
On December 29, 2023, an amended Original Facility Agreement restating certain terms and conditions of the agreement dated December 30, 2022, for an amount equivalent to €160.85 million, to partially finance the New Demerara River Bridge Project Supplemental Agreement was signed between the government and the Bank of China Ltd. Earlier in 2022 (May), the finance ministry press release said, the government had kickstarted the bridge project through the signing of a US$260 million contract as part of its plans to expand and modernise Guyana’s transport infrastructure, and significantly reduce the traffic woes on the East Bank Demerara. The project was awarded to the Joint Venture of China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Limited, China Railway Construction (Caribbean) Co Ltd and China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group Co Ltd.
The final agreement tabled in Parliament is the loan from UniCredit Bank Austria AG- Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN). The government had signed an EKN-Covered Facility Agreement on January 12, 2024, with the UniCredit Bank Austria AG, as the original lender, and the UniCredit Bank Austria AG, as the agent and arranger, for an amount of €135 million.
The purpose of this loan, the release noted, was to finance the design and build of, and deliver medical equipment to a new hospital campus in New Amsterdam, Guyana. With this new hospital campus, the government aims to accelerate modern healthcare in New Amsterdam through improvement in health equity, increase in access to quality healthcare and increase in life expectancy of the population of Region Six. The project includes a new 230-bed hospital that will replace the existing regional facility including training facilities and two wings within the site, provided as core and shell buildings for one psychiatric shelter and one teaching facility.
