A Loan Agreement was signed today in Castries between the Saint Lucia and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development whereby the Fund will extend a loan of Kuwaiti Dinars three million and five hundred thousand (KD. 3,500,000/-), equivalent to about 11.9 million US$, to contribute in financing of the Choc Bay Gros Islet and Secondary Roads Improvement Project in Saint Lucia.  

The Loan Agreement was signed on behalf of Saint Lucia by His Excellency Dr. Kenny Davis Anthony, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs, Planning & Social Security and on behalf of the Fund by Mr. Abdulwab Al-Bader, Director-General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, in attendance of His Excellency Mr. Bader Al-Awadhi, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the State of Kuwait to St. Lucia and Mr. Abdullah Al-Musaibeeh, Regional Manager for Latin American and Caribbean Countries of Kuwait Fund.

The Project aims at contributing to support social and economic development in St. Lucia through the improvement of transportation of passengers and goods in the northern part of the country to cater for the increasing growth of traffic movement, and to reduce travel time and promote road safety. 

The Project includes improvement and widening about 7 km of asphaltic road between Choc Bay and Gros Islet to a two-lane-two-way road and construction of about 7 roundabouts and 9 pedestrian bridges, in addition to provision of water drainage and safety structures. The project also includes improvement of about 20 km of 5 secondary roads for traffic diversion, in addition to institutional support, capacity building for the Project Management Unit and consultancy services .The Project is expected to be completed by end of 2018.

The total cost of the Project is estimated at about East Caribbean dollar 150 million, the equivalent of about KD. 16.41 million, of which the foreign currency is equivalent to about KD. 9.48 million which represents about 58% of the total cost of the Project.  The Fund's Loan will cover about 21.3% of the costs of the Project.

The Loan will be for a period of 20 years including 4 years grace period, and will be amortized in 32 semi-annual installments, the first of which will be due on 1^st date on which any interest or other charge on the Loan shall fall due after the elapse of the above mentioned grace period.

The Loan bears an interest rate at 2.5% per annum, in addition to 0.5% per annum to cover administrative costs and other expenses incurred in the implementation of the Loan Agreement.

Upon signature of this Loan Agreement, this Loan will be the 4^th loan extended by the Fund to Saint Lucia, considering that the Fund had already extended 3 loans to Saint Lucia, totaling about KD 7.5 million (equivalent to about US$ 25.5 million).  The Fund has also extended to Saint Lucia 3 Technical Assistance the total value of which is KD 281,000 (equivalent to about US$ 955,000) to finance the Technical and Economic Feasibility Studies for projects in transportation sector. Moreover, the Fund has recently extended a technical assistance in the amount of KD 250,000 (equivalent to about US$ 850,000) which has yet to be uitilised.