Above: Trinidad Finance Minister Winston Dookeran (Photo: TGISL)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Trinidad will secure a $235 million loan by the end of the year from the Inter-American Development Bank to implement a series of national budget measures, according to Finance Minister Winston Dookeran.
The Minister said $50 million had already been approved for social security programmes and $60 million for wastewater management.
Next Tuesday, the IDB is expected to approve $60 million for energy policy initiatives and investments, all totaling $235 million “by the end of the year.”
The money will have to be repaid in five and a half years at an interest rate of LIBOR 1.3 percent.
Dookeran said the agreement was the “best financial package considering the economic circumstances.”