Govt wants to indebt Guyana more with US$30M IDB loan for COVID-19

Dec 09, 2020 News

– despite getting US$30M last month

Kaieteur News – The Irfaan Ali administration is heading towards getting its third loan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, on a road to racking up so much debt for Guyana that by the time it gets out of the pandemic, Guyana will owe banks a further US$60 million.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is currently considering granting Guyana a loan of US$30.4 million to fight COVID-19, on top of the US$22M it gave Guyana last month.
The US$22M already approved loan, according to the IDB, was given “under the Contingent Credit Facility for Natural Disaster and Public Health Emergencies to finance public expenditures necessary to contain transmission of the disease and mitigate further health and economic consequences.”
The resources are intended to be used to purchase medical equipment, laboratory equipment and inputs, ambulances and personal protective equipment for health workers, surveillance officers and border personnel.
This time around, the proposed US$30.4 million loan is for “Support to Safety Nets for Vulnerable Populations Affected by Coronavirus in Guyana.”
Its intended uses include support for existing cash transfer programs like old age pension, and support for educational continuity in vulnerable populations.
In addition to these, just two weeks ago, the World Bank approved a US$7.5 million loan under the Guyana COVID-19 Emergency Response Project to support the country in tackling the current pandemic and strengthening the country’s health system. It is intended to strengthen laboratory capacity, support screening and surveillance, improve contact tracing, and equip healthcare facilities for more effective treatment and care of COVID-19 patients.
Some have taken issues with the aggressive borrowing stance that Guyana has adopted.
Activist, Ramon Gaskin, told Kaieteur News a few weeks ago that “Guyana should not be borrowing money from the IDB for COVID…”
At the time, the US$22M loan had been announced.
Gaskin insists that Guyana has wealthy “friends” like the United States, Canada, England, China, India which should be helping Guyana, a third world country, in the form of grant aid. He said that the loans are only contributing to the country’s worsening external debt.
He said Guyana’s wealthy friends are concerned about democracy and many other things, so they should be helping the countrymen in the fight against COVID.
“This pandemic is something that is created or caused in a foreign country, and we’re suffering from it, from loss of life, injuries, and the economy is affected. Then on top of it now, we have to go and borrow money to deal with it,” Gaskin said.
He said that Guyana must get rid of the borrowing mentality where it reaches its hands for loans in every direction. He said Guyana should instead live within its means.
It is rather ridiculous, Gaskin posited, to know that Guyana is taking in so many loans while it allows ExxonMobil and its partners to fetch away its oil at deplorable royalty rates of one percent and two percent.
“We allow all the people to come fetch away the resources of this country for nothing, and we keep borrowing all the time and adding to the external debt. The children of this country got to pay it back, not me.” Gaskin said. “The children of this country will be burdened by this thing for years to come.”