ACTING PRIME MINISTER WELCOMES DEBT REDUCTION COMMITMENT BY WORLD BANK

ST.GEORGE’S, GRENADA, MARCH 12th, 2010 _ Grenada’s Acting Prime Minister Hon. Nazim Burke has welcomed the decision of the World Bank to study the debt profiles of the countries of the Region with a view to providing some relief to those states with a heavy debt burden.

Mr. Burke, who is also Minister for Finance in Grenada, said he welcomes any strategy that would allow Grenada and other countries in the region to recover more quickly from the difficulties associated with the current global landscape.

“While we must await the specifics of those strategies, any measure, from an organisation like the World Bank that will help us in the recovery process and reduce our debt burden is good. It certainly will help us to put more resources into the productive sectors of our economy,” said Mr. Burke.

His comments come against the backdrop of statements by the President of the World Bank, Mr. Robert Zoellick, who told regional leaders in Dominica, on Thursday, that the Bank is currently studying the debt profiles of their countries, with a view to “ease” those member states with a high debt burden.

The region’s debt burden, Climate Change and tax havens were among issues raised by CARICOM leaders with the President of the World Bank during their meeting on Thursday. Mr. Zoellick described the meeting as an opportunity to “listen and learn.”

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas heads Grenada’s delegation to the 21st Intersessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Dominica. He is accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Peter David, Foreign Trade Officer Junior Mahon and .Ken Sylvester of the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN).