Prime Minister, Dr the Rt Hon. Keith Mitchell has welcomed the new World Bank Country Director for Grenada Lilia Burunciuc, who has responsibility for maintaining the partnership with Caribbean countries to address their development challenges.
During her first visit to Grenada, Burunciuc had a series of meetings with senior Government officials including the Prime Minister.
In welcoming her, Dr Mitchell noted that Grenada and its Caribbean neighbours face a particularly challenging period given the impact of the pandemic, coupled with the effects of the current war in Ukraine which is already causing an increase in some prices.
Dr Mitchell also cited the potential impact of the recent High Court ruling on the pension matter. He said, “It is therefore important that our friends in the international community understand the challenges we are facing and work with us. I am reasonably comfortable that we can manage the turbulent waters that are emerging but it is critical that we all work together in the interest of our country and its people. We’ve had challenges before and we have managed to overcome them; I think we will also get through this period.”
In her remarks, Burunciuc assured the Prime Minister that the World Bank will continue to support Grenada and other countries it works with. Grenada is on the verge of getting US $25 million as a first tranche which forms part of a World Bank Supported Recovery and Resilience Programmatic Development Policy Credit (DPC) Programme.
She also noted that Grenada is one of the more active countries on the regional agenda, with the country due to benefit shortly from support for 2 key projects — Unleashing the Blue Economy and Data for Decision Making.
She further stated that Grenada stands to benefit from additional financing to support critical areas such as skills development and innovation.
The World Bank official also flagged energy efficiency as another area of potential benefit and the Prime Minister welcomed this, noting that the energy issue is fundamental and has wide-ranging implications for overall development, given its impact on the cost of operations.
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