Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, on Tuesday, signed four loan agreements with the Inter-American Development Bank to secure US$40 million in developmental resources to finance key initiatives within the Ministries of Legal Affairs, Agriculture, Business and Public Health.
The monies will be used to finance key initiatives within the Ministries of Legal Affairs, Agriculture, Business and Public Health.
According to the Ministry of Finance, these loan resources will support Government’s developmental agenda of promoting investment; improving connectivity throughout Guyana; diversifying the economy; and providing citizens with quality healthcare and social services.
The US$15m Sustainable Agricultural Development Program will aid in the country’s focus on diversifying the agricultural sector and improving its competitiveness and viability. The loan seeks to increase productivity of the agricultural sector while maintaining sustainable and climate resilient use of natural resources in Guyana. Specifically, this program is aimed at (a) producing high quality data for the agricultural sector; (b) increasing productivity, especially for medium and small farmers; and (c) increasing sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) standards and access to meat processing facilities. It is expected that higher productivity will also contribute to reduced pressure on forest and fragile ecosystems, and at the same time, increase incomes for small and medium-sized farmers.
To augment the government’s diversification and enhanced competitiveness thrust, the US$9m loan is programmed for the Ministry of Business to support economic diversification and exports through the enhancement of the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) and through a National Export and Investment Promotion Strategy. Specifically, the project will seek to enhance the capacity of the NQI, improve facilities for the NQI and enhance the capability of GOINVEST for export and investment promotion. Importantly, this project will seek to enhance the ability of Guyana to connect with regional and global value chains through the promotion of exports and foreign direct investment, particularly agri-business.
The Ministry of Health will benefit from the US$8m loan, which will provide support to improve maternal and child health. Specifically, this project will contribute to the reduction of maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths in Guyana. This project will not only seek to increase access to and use of reproductive, maternal and neonatal health services, but, importantly, it will seek to improve the quality of those services.
The Ministry of Legal Affairs will benefit from the US$8m loan, which will provide support for the Criminal Justice System. It is anticipated that through this project, there will be a significant reduction of high concentrations of prison population in Guyana. The intent is to reduce the use of pre-trial detention of persons accused of minor, non-violent offences by aggressively promoting the use of alternative sentencing options such as probation, community service, restitution and fines. This intervention will also seek to ensure that our public institutions responsible for the administration of justice are effective, transparent and accountable.
