$150m boost for BERT

Article by Shawn Cumberbatch

Government’s economic reform programme has received another $150 million injection from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and under concessional terms previously inaccessible to the country.

The new policy-based loan will help Government finance the purchase of 30 new electric buses, buy more garbage trucks and help settle debt due to external creditors, Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle said.

It comes more than a year after the Barbados-based financial institution provided the Mia Mottley administration with funding of the same amount, and is the second in a series of such interventions over four years.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who signed the loan agreement on Government’s behalf, said being able to access such a loan with a low interest rate was a major boost for Barbados, and also a sign of progress with the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme. (SC)

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