PM ensuring there is money for immediate response to disaster

WHEN DISASTERS HIT, developing countries must have money they can immediately use, as most times, natural events can be disproportionately more deadly as it relates to the most vulnerable.

With this in mind, Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves said the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has secured a US$20 million soft loan from the World Bank under that institution’s Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) that provides countries with immediate liquidity to address the financial impact of natural disasters or public health emergencies.

It’s a pre-approved loan that becomes available quickly once a disaster strikes and the draw-down trigger is met.

Also, the government has negotiated a policy-based US$30 million loan with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

The Prime Minister provided this information during a recent press conference during which he pointed out that when there is a disaster, money has to be at hand, “to start to do things before I put on my boots to go on the road to see if I could raise more money”.

The Prime Minister said in this area, the country has “two big pots”, about $50 million put aside in the Contingency Fund, which was established in 2017, and the CAT DDO.

He explained that this money cannot be accessed until there is a natural disaster, and the CAT DDO allows for the borrowing of money at low rates of interest (below one percentage point for 40 years).

“…20 million, that’s 54…54 and 50 that’s 104- bits and pieces and so on- and we add it up,” the Prime Minister said, while adding that when the country receives donations in the range of $100,000 to $200,000 to help during natural disasters.

“That is welcomed, but is not enough to fund the numerous shelters and other things that must be addressed,” the Prime Minister said.

“I know the story…I’ve been through 12 hurricanes or storms since 2001… including Beryl…I gone through Soufriere, 21 eruptions in April, 2021. I gone through COVID over a two-year period, 2020 and 2021. I gone through the worst global economic depression you had seen since 1929…and the knock-on effects. I gone through all… alternating droughts,” the Prime Minister said, amidst criticisms of too much borrowing from the New Democratic Party (NDP).

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