Info leak halts loan to Turks and Caicos government

Governor Gordon Wetherell said the widespread publicity had put a spoke in the wheel when sensitive and confidential information was released. (File photo)

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos, March 8, 2010 – The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) interim government won’t be getting the US$85 million it was expecting from a syndicate of local banks to help it ride out the economic storm it’s in, creating yet another headache for the financially-strapped country.

The agreement that was to be signed with the banks last month has been shelved after details of the deal were made public before the agreement was finalised.

Governor Gordon Wetherell said the widespread publicity had put a spoke in the wheel when sensitive and confidential information was released. He said that the lenders were not pleased with the details going public.

"The leak has also undermined the Government’s capacity to negotiate"
--Governor Wetherell

“Negotiations of this kind are commercially sensitive and necessarily confidential, which is why details of the loan were not made publicly available. Syndicate members would not have engaged in negotiations with the interim Government if they had considered it likely that details of the negotiations would be made public before they were agreed and contracts signed,” he said in his second quarterly statement. 

“The leak has also undermined the Government’s capacity to negotiate with potential investors on current and future investment projects.”

The money that was to be provided by the banks was earmarked to pay off old debts and provide the administration with cash flow.

The TCI government owes US$135 million - US$61 million of which has been from banks and the balance owed via an overdraft or to companies and individuals.

As a result of the US$85 million deal being put on ice, Governor Wetherell said there would be even more pressure on the government’s finances and “tougher decisions may now need to be taken and the depth and timing of their implementation deepened and brought forward.”

However, he did not specify what adjustment would be made.