In his state of the nation address, the prime minister announced that the International Bank of Miami would provide Belize with 40 million U.S. dollars to refinance its debt. Experts point out that just like the Royal Merchant Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, the Bank of Miami is in a position where it has to give more money to refinance, because of it does not, Belize will likely default on its loan payments. But every convenience has a price, and 7 news has obtained documents which show that the price for this bailout is dear.
The term sheet for the 40 Million U.S. dollar refinancing, shows a 7 year loan, at the rate of 9.25 percent which considering the fix we're in, is about a good a deal as can be found. But the fine print is where the cost comes in: the International Bank of Miami is charging a 750 thousand us dollar Financial advisory fee, a 400 thousand us dollar placement fee, an Annual 75 thousand US dollar administrative fee and a 25 thousand US dollar due diligence fee. And all this is capped by a 50 thousand US dollar lawyers' bill. That's a total of 1.3 million US dollars in fees Alone, but it's the price an increasingly risk - laden government has to pay to reschedule its pressing debt obligations.
An interesting Footnote is that the term sheet requires that the government of Belize get, quote, "parliamentary approval" for the loan, an interesting clause because the term sheet expires on October 20th. No parliamentary approval was given when Belize negotiated two major short term one year loans from the Bank of Miami: 30 million US dollars due at the end of this year and 16.3 million US dollars due next year.