Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
PARLIAMENT YESTERDAY granted approval for loans totalling US $335 million for refinancing Air Jamaica.
In addition to a US$200 million bond, the airline raised on the international capital market last week, the amounts approved yesterday include US$125 million which is to be borrowed from RBTT Merchant Bank at an interest rate of under nine percent with a 10-year tenure. A revolving facility from National Commercial Bank (NCB) of US$10 million is also covered by Parliamentary approval.
But yesterday, the Opposition, while demanding a business plan for the airline, gave its backing to Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies' resolution requesting Parliamentary approval for the loan.
Before the Opposition gave its support for the resolution, Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding raised concerns about the direction in which the board was going.
"It is important that we see now what the vision for the airline is; what that vision will require in terms of the dollars that are going to have to be invested; what a realistic forecast of the possibility of the airline achieving viability is, and if it can't, what the deficit is," he said.
