CDB to issue loans and grants to Dominica

Dominica will receive more than EC$200 million in grant and loan funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), which is based in Barbados. One EC dollar equals US$0.37.

Dominica will receive EC$132.6 million, including a grant of US$32.9 million from the United Kingdom, for the renovation of the Loubiere to the Grand Bay Road network, according to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

“It is a major investment and certainly it is topping the EC$127 million that we are currently spending on the east of Dominica with loan funds from the World Bank.”

Dominica also received a US$5.5 million loan from the CDB as part of the project, he said, because certain architectural elements had to be left out.

“So, we had to contract the loan from the CDB, and we are very grateful to the CDB for making those funds available in a very quick fashion,” he noted, indicating that the initial part of the project will consist of the construction of five bridges.

He stated that the procurement process is underway and that construction should begin by the middle of the year.