House to meet on Tuesday: PM Chastanet seeking to borrow € 13.5M from European Investment Bank

(Parliament of Saint Lucia)- A Sitting of the House of Assembly is scheduled for Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021 with Papers to be laid by the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation, External Affairs and the Public Service, the Honourable Minister of Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour, the Honourable Minister for Commerce, Industry, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs and the Honourable Minister for Tourism, Information, Broadcasting, Culture and Creative Industries.

The Motion for consideration is as follows:
BE IT RESOLVED that Parliament authorizes the Minister of Finance to borrow from the European Investment Bank the sum of EUR 13,500,000.00 to finance emergency operating expenses in the health sector related to the COVID-19 Virus Pandemic;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that –
(a) the loan is repayable over a period of twenty years from the date of first disbursement of the loan inclusive of a four-year grace period;
(b) the loan payments shall –
(i) be made in consecutive equal semi-annual instalments,
(ii) commence after the grace period of four years
(c) the interest is payable –
(i) at a fixed rate of 1.35% to 1.45% to be determined by the European Investment Bank at the time of disbursement for each Tranche,

(ii) at a floating rate of three months Euro Inter-Bank Offered Rate plus one hundred and ten basis points to one hundred and twenty basis points per annum.

The following Bills are down for consideration:

-Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (Amendment)

-Inter-Governmental Agreement (Saint Lucia and the United States of America) (Amendment)

-International Business Companies (Amendment)

-Income Tax (Amendment)

-Land and House Tax (Amendment)

Tuesday’s Sitting is scheduled to commence at 10:00a.m. The Sitting of the Senate is scheduled for Thursday, June 24th, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. In keeping with the protocols established by the authorities for management of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and with a view to ensuring that there are established protocols, members of the public will NOT be allowed in the Chamber Gallery during the Sittings.

Kindly note that the public can view the live proceedings on the National Television Network (NTN) Channel 122, Government of Saint Lucia Facebook and YouTube.