After nearly a decade, the World Bank could finally be on the verge of establishing a permanent office in Trinidad and Tobago.
This was revealed by Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, Dr. Kennedy Swaratsingh, while speaking at the T&T Chamber’s Business Outlook event on Wednesday.
He said the office could also house the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which provides political risk insurance and credit enhancement to investors and lenders.
“The World Bank is sending us an establishment agreement. The World Bank has wanted to establish an office here with IFC for the last five, ten years. That establishment agreement is now with the Ministry of Finance, and hopefully we’ll take it to Cabinet sometime soon. Once the World Bank is established, the World Bank has in it, not just the IFC, but an agency called MIGA. Many of you would have met with MIGA. MIGA brings with them a guaranteed platform, so you don’t need sovereign guarantee. They will help guarantee some of the loans that they are working for and with the private sector.”
Minister Swaratsingh said for decades, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has been the primary borrower and guarantor in development financing.
“Government is going to move itself away from using its balance sheet to supporting you with your projects using your balance sheet and finding ways to support it using guarantee mechanisms from MIGA, from IDB Invest, and so on. So that’s why this is not just simply me saying to you that there’s lots of opportunity for you to come and partner with us, but we are going to make all the tools we can make available to support you in making some of that happen.”