US $20 million loan signed with IDB

It’s been in the pipeline almost since the winds of Hurricane Keith crossed the border into Mexico…but now it’s official. On Tuesday evening in Washington, D.C. Interamerican Development Bank president Enrique Iglesias and Belize’s ambassador Lisa Shoman signed the documents for a twenty million U.S. dollar hurricane emergency loan. The loan was processed in record time under new guidelines introduced in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The funds will be used for a wide array of activities ranging from cleanup of debris to major infrastructure repairs. The loan carries a twenty year term, with a five year grace period and a variable interest rate which is currently at seven point zero-three percent. The counterpart funds provided by the Belize government total five million U.S. dollars.

In related news the IDB will be hosting an international donours conference on December seventh. Approximately twenty different agencies are expected to meet with Belizean officials to arrange financing for medium and long term hurricane recovery programmes. In a unique effort to help the Belizean news media cover the event, the local IDB office is holding a lottery in which one print, one radio and one television journalist will enjoy a sponsored trip to Washington to report on the conference. The names of the reporters will be made public on Monday.