The Parliament of Saint Lucia is scheduled to convene at 10:00 a.m. today, March 10, with the government expected to seek approval for a series of major loans and guarantees to finance water infrastructure, highway expansion, education reform, and other national development initiatives.
According to the Order Paper for the sitting of the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia, several resolutions will be brought by Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Honorable Philip J. Pierre, authorizing borrowing from regional and international financial institutions.
One of the largest proposed borrowings is US$22,829,181 from the Caribbean Development Bank to finance the John Compton Dam Raw Water Pipeline Replacement Project.
This loan is equivalent to approximately EC$61,638,789.
The resolution states Parliament is asked to approve borrowing “an amount of twenty-two million eight hundred and twenty-nine thousand one hundred and eighty-one United States dollars… to finance the John Compton Dam Raw Water Pipeline Replacement Project.”
The government also intends to borrow US$4,233,750 from the CARICOM Development Fund to rehabilitate and upgrade the Theobalds Water Supply System.
That sum amounts to approximately EC$11,431,125.
An amendment to an existing loan agreement would allow the government to borrow an additional US$781,493 from the CARICOM Development Fund for the Patience Community Water Supply Project, equivalent to about EC$2,110,031.
Two loans are proposed to support the expansion of the Sir Julian R. Hunte Highway.
The first involves US$20,000,000 from the OPEC Fund for International Development to finance the section from Choc Bridge to Marisule Junction.
That loan would amount to approximately EC$54,000,000.
The second loan is $4,000,000 Kuwaiti dinars from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development for the expansion between Monchy Junction and Gros Islet Town Junction.
At current exchange rates, this equals roughly EC$35,392,000.
Another resolution seeks approval for a US$94,871,706 loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to finance national development initiatives and COVID-19 mitigation measures.
This represents approximately EC$256,153,606.
Parliament will also debate borrowing US$17,105,127 from the Caribbean Development Bank to finance the Programme for Education Realignment and Transformation Project.
That loan equals roughly EC$46,183,843.
In addition to borrowing, the government will be asked to guarantee a loan of EC$121,500,000 borrowed by the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority from a syndicate of banks led by the Bank of Saint Lucia Limited.
The financing will support the reconstruction of Berth No. 4 at Port Castries, with the loan repayable over fifteen years.
The government also intends to invest US$356,000, or approximately EC$961,200, to purchase shares in the International Finance Corporation.
If all measures are approved, the sitting could authorize approximately EC$589 million in new borrowing and loan guarantees.