(By Ernesto Cooke) – At the end of 2020, St Vincent and the Grenadines public debt stood at 1,871,029,887 dollars.
Minister of Finance Camilo Gonsalves said that the figure is 12 percent more than the disbursed public debt for 2019.
The total domestic debt amounted to 579.6 million at the end of 2020 increased by 17.2 percent compared to domestic debt for the same period in 2019.
The external debt stood at 1.29 billion dollars an increase of 9.8 percent compared to the figure for December 2019.
The main changes within the domestic debt portfolio are as follows;
Balance outstanding on overdrafts owed by the pubic sector increased by 17.8 Million dollars.
The local portfolio grew by 19.4 Million dollars, largely due to a BOSVG loan raised during that period.
Total government bonds and notes issued and outstanding over the period increased by 2.8 percent or 7.6 Million dollars similarly, the total domestic treasury bills outstanding also increased by 17.4 Million dollars.
Gonsalves said that at the end of 2020, there was an increase in the external debt of 9.8 percent compared with 2019.
This change’s main driver is the second fiscal reform and resilience development policy credit from the world bank, a credit of 54 Million dollars.
The credit was a soft loan with a 40 year repayment period at less than one half of a percent interest.
The Minister said the increased external indebtedness was largely or almost entirely a product of soft loans from the World Bank and other development agencies.
Additional net repayments were recorded on several loans during 2020
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