KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says his administration is seeking loans totaling US$93 million, with at least US$63 million coming from the Washington-based World Bank.
He said the remaining US$30 million will come from the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and will be a policy-based loan used across the government rather than for a specific project.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
“Remember I had said to you, we don’t have all the money to do this or all the money to do that, and they should be signing that shortly,” he said, adding, “That is about 30 million US.”
“We spent about half of it in advance already, so that go fill back the hole. Because sometimes you can’t wait; have to get something from some other source when you fill back the hole,” Gonsalves said.
“Then for people saying, ‘Well, we see what’s happening. The election is later this year. Right now, we’re negotiating with the World Bank. The World Bank has agreed to the IDA — International Development Association — money, which will be about US$63 million from 2026 in the future.”
General elections are widely expected by November, before the February 2026 constitutional deadline. Gonsalves, whose Unity Labour Party (ULP) is seeking a sixth consecutive term in office, said he was not assuming his party would win the polls.
“I’m operating because I am winning the election and preparing programs for next year and beyond. I ain’t just making an assumption. I’m operating because the people will return us for a sixth term.”
He said the policy-based loan” isn’t tied to anything.
“But the items which we are looking at, to prepare additional programs from this money, which we are presenting to the World Bank,” he said, mentioning sustainable tourism and coastal erosion resilience projects to deal with tourism sites, groins, breakwaters, and resanding.
“A second one: sustainable fisheries and livelihood enhancement project to develop infrastructure at Ashton in Union Island, Buccament, Calliaqua, Clare Valley, Layou, Lowmans, Shipping Bay. You know, fish fries, support for the fishers, and the like.”
Gonsalves said that while his government was doing some things, it had to do more, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), skills development for construction, culture, and the creative industries.
“You will see these in the manifesto, and I’ll be able to tell you that I have the money lined up,” he said, referring to the Kingstown Waterfront Revitalisation and Urban Renewal Project.
“That is to do the master plan to design the waterfront, the modern port, and other infrastructure,” he said, noting that this would be done after the wharf was relocated and the new port was completed.
“… we also need to have another source to do the Grenadines ferry terminal; wharf for the Grenadines, which will go to the western side of where the port is now — the modern port we are now building,” he said.
As regards the policy loan, Gonsalves said that some loans are tied to projects.
“You must do your project; if it’s a school, you do the design, … you do all your tendering; you have your contractor, and so on. And then money will be drawn down about that project.”
However, regarding the government’s evaluation of a policy-based loan,
“Are its fundamentals in order? Does it have a good approach to fiscal policy, national disaster, and social security? And once they’re satisfied that your policies align with their priorities, they will give you a policy-based loan so you can spend generally across the government,” Gonsalves added.
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