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Members of the House would recall that during my budget presentation I had indicated that, as part of a comprehensive strategy to complete the resolution of the financial sector problem, it would be necessary to obtain external assistance. In that context, I said the GOJ would be approaching, the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank (IBRD) within the context of a Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) developed in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Last week, during my visit to Washington where I attended the meeting of the Caribbean Group for Co-operation in Economic Development (CGCED), further discussions on the proposed support were held with the World Bank, the IDB and the CDB. This followed on the visit of a technical team from the Washington based institutions and the Caribbean Development Bank during the previous two weeks. During that visit, our medium term economic programme was thoroughly discussed. FINSAC related issues were examined within the context of the economic programme. I am pleased to announce that the discussion with the three institutions have progressed satisfactorily. Over the period September to November, the management of the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank will be submitting to their respective Boards loans totaling US$325mn to assist with the resolution of the problems in the sector. The initial disbursements should take place over the period between September to December 2000. The loan amounts should be for(US) $150m each from the World Bank and the IDB and (US) $25m from the CDB. In addition to the support for the financial sector, the World Bank will also be making a loan of US$75.0mn for the Social Sectors. The modalities of the various loans are now being finalized. Omar Davies
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