{"id":121465,"date":"2020-12-21T12:48:07","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T16:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=121465"},"modified":"2020-12-21T12:57:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T16:57:37","slug":"antigua-to-benefit-from-us50-million-loan-for-covid-19-response-in-the-oecs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-to-benefit-from-us50-million-loan-for-covid-19-response-in-the-oecs\/","title":{"rendered":"Antigua to benefit from US$50 million loan for COVID-19 response in the OECS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) today signed a US$50 million loan agreement to support COVID-19 response projects in the\u00a0Organisation\u00a0of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Member States.<\/p>

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The agreement was signed by CDB Vice-President (Operations), Diana Wilson Patrick and IDB Representative in Barbados, Juan Carlos De la Hoz Vinas.<\/p>

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The loan will provide economic resources to OECS Member States \u2013 Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.<\/p>\n

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CDB\u2019s Vice-President (Operations), Diana Wilson Patrick said<\/strong>, \u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the\u00a0specialised\u00a0role that multilateral development banks, like CDB and IDB, play in coordinating development assistance and planning systematic recovery. We reaffirm our commitment to continued\u00a0collaboration and partnership, to provide our Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) with essential financing, technical support, and policy advice to protect the Region\u2019s most vulnerable people<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0build resilience against shocks like COVID-19<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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General Manager of the IDB Caribbean Country Department, Therese Turner-Jones<\/strong>\u00a0noted,\u00a0\u201cSince 1977, the IDB has had a long-term collaborative relationship with the CDB. In this way, we\u00a0are able to\u00a0extend our mission of improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean to those countries that are not IDB borrowing members but are certainly valued members of an important Caribbean sub-region.\u00a0The high level of interconnectedness and interdependency between the vulnerable economies of our region has been underscored during this pandemic. Our continued support will help bolster the OECS response to the COVID-19 crisis and pave the way to recovery and greater resilience in the region.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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The\u00a0loan agreement signed today will finance a\u00a0programme\u00a0to\u00a0help reduce mortality and morbidity from COVID-19 and ensure minimum levels of quality of life and health for vulnerable people in the\u00a0countries mentioned. In addition, it will provide support for Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs).<\/p>\n

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To achieve this, the\u00a0programme\u00a0focuses on three main components:<\/p>\n