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.”