Minister of State Coye: “The Super Noose No Longer Exists”

Not only is the purpose of the Blue Bond to protect the marine environment, the Government of Belize is realizing massive savings to the tune of more than have a billion Belize dollars. Negotiators were able to offer Superbond holders fifty five cents on the dollar.  Belize Blue Investment Company, a subsidiary company of TNC, is now the sole holder of this massive savings agreement.  TNC Program Director and Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance provided more details today.

Julie Robinson

Julie Robinson, Program Director, TNC Belize

“This new loan agreement has a longer term. It is a nineteen year term. That plus lower coupon rates in the early years, and extended term gives an overall debt savings of another two hundred million U.S in savings. In the first five years alone, it is going to be fifty million dollars US that the government is going to save.”

Christopher Coye

Christopher Coye, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance

“The super noose no longer exist. It was cancelled on Friday when the super bond holders were paid off at a forty-five percent discount, which means we automatically saved a quarter billion US dollars, or  a half billion dollars in Belize terms. But automatically our debt to GDP ratio falls by twelve percent. Our external debt falls by an ever greater percentage, more like twenty percent. So the benefits are gained already. In terms of opportunity, recall that when this administration came into government, the state of economy, there was no fiscal space. In fact, the government was borrowing a million dollars a day roughly, in Belize dollars terms. We are not borrowing a million dollars a day. And, I don’t expect we will be borrowing a million dollars a day. Or that is the intent; we will not be borrowing a million dollars a day for the foreseeable future. But, we are in the process of improving our fiscal position. This goes some ways to doing that, but we have a long way further to go.”