A US$50 million loan from CAF Development Bank of Latin America- to mitigate the COVID-19 health crisis- has been approved for Trinidad and Tobago.  That translates to TT  $337,539,500.

It is just part of the US$450 million which the T&T government hopes to access from international money lenders.

 “This loan is added to the USD 400.000 donation that the financial institution made on April 3rd ( to the T&T Ministry of Finance) and will be complemented by further anti-cyclic support to mitigate the effects of the epidemic on economic activity, “ the official website of the bank reported on  Wednesday.

 “The present loan aims to strengthen Trinidad and Tobago’s capacity to respond to and prevent the crisis caused by COVID-19, through direct financial resources and the recognition of expenses and investments aimed at reducing the risk or mitigating the impact of the pandemic in the health of the population.

 “These emergency funds will back the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in its efforts to fight COVID-19 from different fronts, from improving health services to preserving the country´s economic resilience”, said Luis Carranza, CEO of CAF.

 “To cope with the effects of the pandemic in Latin America, early in March 2020 CAF offered its member countries an emergency regional credit line of USD50 million per country for health emergency investments, and in April 2020 approved a regional anti-cyclic facility of USD 2.500 million.