BELIZE RECEIVES US $3 MILLION LINE OF CREDIT FROM CARICOM

Belmopan, March 1- Belize has received a US$3 million line of credit from the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF). Prime Minister Hon. Dean Barrow and CDF’s Chief Executive Officer, His Excellency Lorne McDonnough, signed the official loan agreement on Monday, February 21.

The fund will be made available for lending to the Belizean private sector and is earmarked for seven categories of development initiatives. It will help the private sector to upgrade or replace their plant equipment, improve their firms’ competitiveness, retrain their work force, fund project development or innovation, finance creative industries and other projects in the service sector, meet international certification and standards, and improve on their marketing or marketing assessment initiatives in CARICOM markets.

The Ministry of Economic Development says the loan will fund organizations or entrepreneurs who engage in: environmental conservation, agro-processing, organic farming and “green” projects, projects with foreign exchange savings and generation potential, alternative energy, manufacturing, eco-tourism and manufacturing. The money will also provide grant funds to agencies such as the ministry, the Development Finance Corporation, and Belize Trade and Investment.

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