{"id":185468,"date":"2023-09-19T12:45:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T16:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=185468"},"modified":"2023-09-19T12:45:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T16:45:05","slug":"antigua-and-barbuda-declines-loan-offer-from-african-ex-im-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-and-barbuda-declines-loan-offer-from-african-ex-im-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"Antigua and Barbuda declines loan offer from African Ex-Im Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

POINTE XPRESS: Antigua and Barbuda will not pursue any loan arrangements with the African
\nExport-Import Bank as its interest rates are \u2018too high\u2019.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

The disclosure was made in parliament on Monday by Prime Minister Gaston
\nBrowne, who said the government took the decision as it was in the best interest of
\nthe people of Antigua and Barbuda.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things about this administration is that we are very nimble; almost
\ninvariably we are \u2018first-movers\u2019 within the Caribbean on practically every issue.
\nWhen the African Ex-Im Bank engaged the Caribbean about two years ago-, we
\nsigned on to explore the possibility of doing business with them,\u201d he reported.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

However, PM Browne relayed that during the negotiations the government<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

discovered that what the bank called \u2018concessionary rates\u2019 were not what it
\nconsidered to be concessionary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe commenced negotiations with the African Ex-Im Bank to secure a loan of
\nUS$100 million on behalf of the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority to do
\nmajor upgrades at expansion at the VC Bird International Airport.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

During the
\nnegotiations, the terms they offered us were; a concessional interest rate of 12
\npercent and a 4 percent negotiations fee. I am told that companies such as Air
\nPeace borrow at up to 25 percent interest rate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, I must tell you that the
\nAfrican Ex-Im Bank interest rate model does not work for us.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Therefore we had to decline going any further in the discussion,\u201d PM Browne emphasized.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

He also revealed that the government has turned to a consortium involving
\nOppenheimer (Investment bankers) and FCIB to do the loan and that negotiations
\nare nearing conclusion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The interest rate will not exceed eight percent with the
\nnegotiations fees at about two percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how responsible we have been as a government. We also shop for \u2018best
\nvalue\u2019 for the people of Antigua and Barbuda,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

POINTE XPRESS: Antigua and Barbuda will not pursue any loan arrangements with the African Export-Import Bank as its interest rates are \u2018too high\u2019. The disclosure was made in parliament on Monday by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who said the government took the decision as it was in the best interest of the people of Antigua […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":184720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-185468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAntigua and Barbuda declines loan offer from African Ex-Im Bank - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-and-barbuda-declines-loan-offer-from-african-ex-im-bank\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Antigua and Barbuda declines loan offer from African Ex-Im Bank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"POINTE XPRESS: Antigua and Barbuda will not pursue any loan arrangements with the African Export-Import Bank as its interest rates are \u2018too high\u2019. 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