Antigua and Barbuda Government denies defaulting on Chinese loans

The Antigua and Barbuda government has dismissed as “false and misleading” claims that the country is behind in its multi-million dollar loan payments to China for the air and seaports.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne told Parliament that his administration remains current on all its financial obligations to the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) and denied suggestions that the country risks losing control of key infrastructure due to loan defaults.

“I observe that members of the (opposition) UPP (United Progressive Party)….would have put in the public domain false information to the extent that we are delinquent with our Chinese loan and we are now at risk of losing the seaport.

“I wish to state categorically that these claims are a figment of the opposition’s imagination. “We are totally up to date with all of our loans (payments) with the Chinese Exim Bank,” Browne told legislators.

In February last year, Browne had described China as one of the country’s most important development partners and dismissed as absurd claims that China has a history of colonising countries.

Browne compared China’s aid to a US$37.3 million loan from the World Bank, noting that Chinese loans for projects such as the national airport and seaport, valued at more than US$186.5 million, have more favourable terms, with two per cent interest, a 20-year term and five-year moratoriums on each project.

The opposition here has repeatedly questioned the government’s management of external debt, particularly loans from Chin, raising concerns about the long-term financial implications and whether the country’s borrowing strategy puts national assets at risk.

UPP officials have pointed to reports of other countries facing difficulties in repaying Chinese loans, leading to fears that critical infrastructure in Antigua and Barbuda could be used as collateral.

But the Browne administration has rejected such concerns as baseless speculation, reiterating that the government is managing the country’s debt responsibly and that China remains a key development partner.

Source-CMC