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STATUS OF IDB LOANS APPROVED IN NOVEMBER 2011 FOR WATER
SANITATION, TAX ADMINISTRATION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
US$MN
LOAN TOTAL
DISBURSED/FEBRUARY
2015
UNDISBURSED
WATER
SANITATION
133,000,000
52.5
80.5
TAX
ADMINISTRATION
65,000,000
14.9
50.1
ENERGY
EFFICIENCY
20,000,000
4.6
15.4
TOTAL
218,000,000
72.0
146.0
(33%)
(67%)
4.
Negotiate for the multilateral institutions to jointly purchase Jamaica’s
US$3.0 billion PetroCaribe debt at a 50% discounted face value similar to
what was recently done by the Dominican Republic with a private
institution. The fundamental difference is that Jamaica would benefit from
not just a lower discounted debt stock, it would also pay the multilaterals a
low interest rate similar to or not much higher than the 1% per annum paid
on the PetroCaribe debt. And the period of the loan would also be over 20
years, instead of paying over 7% to a private intermediary on the global
capital market, perhaps over a shorter period of time.
The result would be a sharp reduction in the debt stock by US$1.5 billion or
about 8.0% and equally low interest rate over an extended period. This is
the path to travel on this issue.
5.
Carry out a review of the Fiscal Incentives regime to ensure relevance and
competitiveness with the global investment environment. This includes a
reinstatement of the incentives under the Junior Stock Exchange and a
review of other sectors such as Manufacturing, Tourism and Agriculture to
ensure that Jamaica’s regime is “cutting edge competitive”. For instance, in