$3.5 Billion to Go Towards Repayment of Institutional Loans

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has been allotted $3.5 billion for the repayment of institutional loans this fiscal year.
The provision has been made in the 2009/10 Estimates of Expenditure.
As stated in the document, the bulk of the sum, $3.4 billion, will go towards the repayment of loans raised from local commercial banks to finance water and sewage projects; working capital support for the Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC); loans for the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) assumed by the Government; and other budgetary expenditure, including some related to deferred financing facilities.
The remaining portion of $100 million provides for the repayment of promissory notes issued to, and loans raised from parastatal (semi-public) bodies.
These include the reimbursement of taxes withheld on loan payments due to the National Insurance Fund (NIF) and other NIF investments; and payment to the National Housing Trust (NHT) with regard to Stadium Gardens and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) housing.