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Shaw gets his cheap money
IDB guarantees US$ multimillion loan to GovernmentBy Julian Richardson
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Finance Minister Audley Shaw announced on Friday that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has committed a soft loan of at least US$600 million to Jamaica over a few years, and he used the opportunity to hit back at critics who ridiculed his plan to source low-cost financing.
Shaw... we are making inroads on the problem of debt
Shaw, speaking at a Financial Services Commission investment luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus, said that he initiated the discussions with the IDB at its Washington DC headquarters last year, and the development bank finally made the committment to him last week after meeting with Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
"When I went to Washington a year ago I started the engagement, and the IDB, after meeting with the Prime Minister, wrote a letter to me committing the IDB to providing between US$100 and US$200 million per year over the next few years," said Shaw.
Added the minister: "That is to say at least three years and perhaps five years, and that is a potential of at least US$600 million to US$1 billion."
Shaw said that the interest rate on the loan will be five per cent and the most important condition is that Jamaica must appropriate the kind of policies that are going to be consistent with the forming of structural efficiencies of the economy.
When Shaw acquired the Finance Ministry portfolio after last year's general election, he outlined a shift in Jamaica's debt strategy to one of increased multilateral borrowing from the International Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank and the World Bank. The minister said that the IDB's committment is a significant step towards untangling Jamaica's severe debt problems, and blasted critics who he said had scoffed at his goals when he came to office.
"This is a significant committment from the IDB," noted the minister. "Let me remind you that this is five per cent money; not 10 or 12 per cent money as it is on the international capital markets which is likely to get worse now because of the fallout that we are having and it is not 15 per cent money.
"We are making inroads on the problem of debt. Last year when I said we would be engaging the multilateral institutions, I was laughed at by some and jeered," added Shaw. "I was asked 'Where is the five per cent money?' a few weeks after becoming Finance Minister.... Apart from being irresponsible and cynical, it's just politics."
Shaw said that the World Bank would also be assisting the country significantly, but did not go into specific details as to not pre-empt that organisation's committment.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magaz...EAP_MONEY_.asp
IDB guarantees US$ multimillion loan to GovernmentBy Julian Richardson
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Finance Minister Audley Shaw announced on Friday that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has committed a soft loan of at least US$600 million to Jamaica over a few years, and he used the opportunity to hit back at critics who ridiculed his plan to source low-cost financing.
Shaw... we are making inroads on the problem of debt Shaw, speaking at a Financial Services Commission investment luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus, said that he initiated the discussions with the IDB at its Washington DC headquarters last year, and the development bank finally made the committment to him last week after meeting with Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
"When I went to Washington a year ago I started the engagement, and the IDB, after meeting with the Prime Minister, wrote a letter to me committing the IDB to providing between US$100 and US$200 million per year over the next few years," said Shaw.
Added the minister: "That is to say at least three years and perhaps five years, and that is a potential of at least US$600 million to US$1 billion."
Shaw said that the interest rate on the loan will be five per cent and the most important condition is that Jamaica must appropriate the kind of policies that are going to be consistent with the forming of structural efficiencies of the economy.
When Shaw acquired the Finance Ministry portfolio after last year's general election, he outlined a shift in Jamaica's debt strategy to one of increased multilateral borrowing from the International Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank and the World Bank. The minister said that the IDB's committment is a significant step towards untangling Jamaica's severe debt problems, and blasted critics who he said had scoffed at his goals when he came to office.
"This is a significant committment from the IDB," noted the minister. "Let me remind you that this is five per cent money; not 10 or 12 per cent money as it is on the international capital markets which is likely to get worse now because of the fallout that we are having and it is not 15 per cent money.
"We are making inroads on the problem of debt. Last year when I said we would be engaging the multilateral institutions, I was laughed at by some and jeered," added Shaw. "I was asked 'Where is the five per cent money?' a few weeks after becoming Finance Minister.... Apart from being irresponsible and cynical, it's just politics."
Shaw said that the World Bank would also be assisting the country significantly, but did not go into specific details as to not pre-empt that organisation's committment.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magaz...EAP_MONEY_.asp
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