…Minister Jordan says Guyana receiving favourable responses to requests

THE Government of Guyana has engaged a number of its multilateral partners for COVID-19 mitigation support and has received favourable responses with two “major approvals” expected very soon.

“So far, those discussions are in various stages. Two of them are extremely advanced and very soon, if I’m still here, I’m hoping to announce major approvals from these international institutions,” Finance Minister, Winston Jordan announced, on Thursday, during an interview with the National Communication Network (NCN).

Jordan opted not to disclose the names of these institutions but noted that the Government is well-aware of the challenges faced by citizens and within many sectors since the emergence of COVID-19 and has been working overtime to obtain international financial and material support.

He said: “In another two of them, we are talking about adjusting existing loan balances to assist with COVID-19 responses and those, as far as I’m concerned, are going pretty well. We have exchanged paperwork and so forth and we’re seeking to answer additional questions.”

At the bilateral level, Jordan said that the United States (U.S.), China, United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU), Canada and Korea have either provided or pledged assistance while assistance is soon expected from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The latter will come in the form of COVID-19-related procured materials worth between $US200,000 to US$300,000. Added to this, Colombia has donated US$80,000 to Guyana, currently in the country’s bank account, and this will also go to aid the fight against the pandemic.

Minister Jordan also provided an update on the requested funds from the World Bank. Back in March 2020, Guyana had requested US$5M of the World Bank under its Rapid Response Facility to aid in the early fight against COVID-19. Though the Bank has not met the request under the said programme, in May 2020, under the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF), it presented Guyana with a US$1M fund. The paper work for the release of this fund to Guyana was submitted on Wednesday.

Jordan said that much has changed with Guyana’s COVID-19 situation since then and Guyana is now in discussion with the World Bank for the conduct of a Needs Assessment Mission.

During recent interactions, the World Bank has also indicated to the Government that Guyana will be the recipient of approximately US$64M Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) over the next 3-4 years. This allocation comes under the International Development Association (IDA) which is a part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries.

“This is absolutely, very cheap money. I believe its 1 per cent interest rate payment and, in the context of this Needs Assessment Mission, we can maybe see how that money can be programmed over the next 3-4 years,” he said.

On the local level, he said that Government Ministries and agencies continue to deliver hampers and sanitisation materials. He said that this will continue to the extent that the government’s domestic resources allow, given the absence of a 2020 budget.