Above: Dominica (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Dominica has signed a loan agreement with the CARICOM Development Fund.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday, covering financial investments for job creation and agricultural export, according to a government statement.

The funding totals $7.1 million USD, or around $18.4 million EC, with about $1.4 million to be received as grant funding.

“The projects we have chosen to finance are additional works at the Melville Hall Airport, support for the operationalization of pack houses, which is critical to the export of our agricultural produce; upgrading of the services provided by the Dominica Bureau of Standards; support to the AID Bank, and a line of credit to private businesses to be administered by the AID Bank,” Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said. “A number of the productive sectors would benefit from this facility at the AID Bank.”

Lorne McDonnough, CEO of the CARICOM Development Fund, said the “significant” funding would help deepen Dominica’s integration in CARICOM.

Guyana received similar funding earlier this month for its agriculture sector.