The Government of Guyana may have to engage the Opposition parties as it gets ready to move to the National Assembly with a motion that would increase the external loan ceiling for Guyana. The Alliance for Change has already indicated that it does not intend to support the motion at this stage.

The external debt ceiling is the limit set out by the National Assembly in how much money Guyana could borrow from external sources. The Guyana Government wants to increase the external debt ceiling to US$1.1 Billion.

At a Thursday press conference, Chairman of the Alliance for Change Nigel Hughes said “we believe the motion by the government is driven to accommodate the debt created by Amalia Falls and created by the demand to have the government guarantee GPL’s performance of its obligations under the power purchase agreement.”

He said the Alliance For Change has made it clear before that until the Inter American Development Bank makes a pronouncement and approves the GPL project, the AFC will not support the project.

Hughes said the Government’s move is premature and as such cannot get the support of his party at this time. He said there is no national crisis that necessitates an increase in the ceiling.

The Ministry of Finance announced earlier this week that it intends to move to the National Assembly to get the debt ceiling increased. The other opposition party, A Partnership for National Unity has not indicated any position on the government’s move.

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