With chances of picking up funding that can reach $800 million – or eight times its investment – Barbados is looking to the Development Bank of Latin America to help it pull the economy out of trouble.
Even though the $100 million “membership fee”, which translates into shares in the bank, is yet to be paid, the two sides are already discussing loan possibilities in areas including port expansion and improvements of the island’s network of roads.
Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler said yesterday that Government was turning to the regional bank, which has assets of US$10 billion, to access development aid with low interest rates and other concessions at a time when Barbados was finding itself challenged to get concessional loans from development agencies and facing rates of up to nine per cent in the open financial market.
He reported that membership of the fast-growing Caracas-based bank, known by its Spanish acronym CAF (Corporación Andina de Fomento), would allow Barbados to gain loans worth four times its investment of $100 million while for loans with a regional input, the value could be worth eight times the figure. (TY)
Please read the full story in today’s Midweek Nation, or in the eNATION edition.
