So, 256 million Belize dollars - so where will the government find all that money? Well, they will borrow it using domestic sources:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"So, in its first instance, government will issue charging notes or debt instruments. I will use the funding from the sale of these notes to satisfy the purchase price. The Central Bank will therefore source the foreign exchange since payments is to be made in US dollars, while the proceeds from the sale of the treasury notes are in Belize dollars."
"So, the net impact at acquisition will be 128 million US dollars, moving the public debt marginally higher from approximately 60% of GDP to 64%. I should underscore that this temporary increase in the public debt is an increase in the domestic debt stock only."
"We're not borrowing from abroad. We're not borrowing from private banks. We'll borrow from our own local resources here in Belize."
"Moving forward, the government will seek to divest these shares in the hydro, the instance of the hydro power company, at the par."
"So, we're not going to lose the money, we will just get back our money, and in the instance of BEL, at a margin that allows a gain for government. So, the domestic public debt moves marginally, but temporarily for purposes of a strategic national investment."
"Ideally, the government would wish to see that the Social Security Investment Fund as an anchor stakeholder in the new hydro company, given the stable long-term projected returns of the hydro power investments."
"In the case of the Mollejon, Chalillo and VACA facilities, there is a decade long of successful operation with power supply contracts with BEL extending all the way to 2060. Other domestic institutional investors have already expressed an interest such as in Holy Redeemer credit union and other credit unions and several of the insurance companies and probably even the banks."
"On the other hand the BEL shares may require some time before reselling perhaps to a strategic investor given the recovery curve upon which BEL is currently embarked."
