The Financial Secretary Comments on Bond Payment extension

It has been reported in the international press and today the Financial Secretary Joseph Waight said that yes, some of Belize’s creditors have agreed to extend the grace period on the seven million dollars coupon payment, which was due earlier this year to late September.  He says the time will be used to continue ongoing negations with bondholders for debt restructuring.

Joseph Waight, Financial Secretary

“Under the terms and conditions of the bond, a payment was due on the twentieth of May. And, there was a thirty days grace period beyond that to take you to the twentieth of June to secure the payment, after which it then goes into what you call a hard default. A hard default means that now you defaulted, and then it is, it can be exercised by bond holders to try to collect their money. What the government has done, have reached out to some of the bond holder to ask for an extension of this grace period by a further ninety days, which would take it to the twentieth of September to allow for sufficient time for what we hope would be a positive outcome of the negotiations we are having with the bond holders to see if we can get some debt relief. So really the extension is for the grace period, and what we have heard from some of the creditors is that they would support it. But you would need most bond holders to support the extension of the grace period.”

Paul Lopez

“So, you are saying, it is not a case where, when that period is up sometime in September, that seventy million will have to be paid at that point?”

Joseph Waight,

“Well, the grace period gives you an extension. If nothing happens then it becomes due. But what we are hoping is that this will give both sides enough time to sit down and come to some understanding and some change.”