Grenada PM to Visit Washington

Above: Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell will be heading to Washington, DC next week for meetings with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In a statement, Grenada’s government said the meetings would examine “Grenada’s development agenda as well as the rest of the region.”

“Those meetings are to look at the development agenda for Grenada and for the region as a whole,” said Minister Roland Bhola. “In particular, both financial institutions will be discussing taking to their board, sometime in May, the issue of the monies that we are expecting to flow to us in this country as a result of the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme.”

Grenada is set to draw down $21.9 million for development as part of its recently-signed IMF agreement.

The deal also paves the way for at least $100 million from various lenders, including the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and the European Union.

“We believe from all of the communication we have had from both institutions; inclusive of the Caribbean Development Bank as well and the European Union, that between May and June we should start receiving and feeling the effect of the funding that was promised to us,” Bhola said.

Mitchell will be joined on the trip by Permanent Secretary Timothy Antoine on the trip, which will last from April 9 to April 12.

Mitchell also visited Washington in October 2013.