ROSEAU, Dominica

The Dominica government said Tuesday it has been able to raise EC$20 million (US$7.4 million) on the Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM) through the sale of Treasury Bills.

The government said that the second of a series of three, 91 day Treasury bill offerings, sold on June 18 attracted “record low rate” of 1.999 per cent and that “this is the second time that such a low rate has been attained”.

It said that in March, the government also raised EC$20 million in the first of the series of three Treasury bills and quotes Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Roosevelt Skerrit as saying that the purchase represents a vote of confidence in his administration’s fiscal policies.

“The government has had to face our own challenges but we have worked vigorously to build a strong

platform for our sustained economic growth. While we have not been spared entirely the effects of the global financial crisis, our prudent fiscal and economic policies have insulated us from the more severe effects.

“The rate achieved in the most recent Treasury bill offering further cements Government’s ability to raise the financing it needs at a lower cost to the taxpayers of Dominica,” Skerrit said.

The statement said that the government is encouraged by this success of raising revenue and will offer another 91 day Treasury bill later this year which will be used to finance part of government’s operating budget and refinance existing government debt, the interest rate on which is much higher than the interest rate government obtains on its Treasury bills.

“Government is committed to creating a local economy that develops the lives of the people of Dominica without creating unsustainable debt burdens. Treasury bills present an avenue to invest outside the normal banking system,” the statement added.

CMC