So that’s the broad outline of the deal, except for one not so minor detail: the fees. First off, government has to pay the Creditor Committee’s costs, which is in the millions of dollars - even though it was just a four month negotiation. Add in success fees for government’s advisors at Citibank and lawyers, and it’s well above five million dollars just to get the deal done. The Prime Minister said he hadn't added it all up yet:…
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Minister of Finance
“We are probably going to be up to $3 million odd US dollars, maybe closer to 4, in terms of our fees on our side. Everybody worked on a success bases so that if we had walked way and there was no deal, city would not have been paid. The success fee bases, there is a formula that I certainly haven’t worked out yet, calculated when you apply the formula to where we ended up what then will be the final figure for city but it will be a few, certainly more than $2 million US dollars. It is going to be fairly hefty.â€
The PUP seized on that today saying, quote, “The very insignificant savings in interest evaporates when the consent fee, payment to bondholders committee and payment to local advisors are factored in.â€
That’s from a press release which calls the renegotiation, quote, “nothing more than a ‘smoke and mirrors’ presentation utilizing hocus-pocus economics.â€
The release states, quote, “The truth is that this government has done nothing more than kick the can down the road, indebting Belizeans for years to come, years after Mr. Barrow (has) demitted office.â€
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