Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said that his administration’s decision to seek authorisation from the Lower House of Parliament to borrow US$100 million from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) is a pre-emptive measure so that if a decision is made to sign a loan agreement with the Fund, his government already has Parliament approval.
“Authorisation to borrow is not borrowing. Our law requires that if we are going to borrow or in the event we are thinking about borrowing, it will make good sense for us to get approval, rather than borrow then come to seek approval. So let me make it clear for the Saudi Development Fund loan, there is no loan as yet, and there is no signed loan agreement as yet,” he informed Members of the House of Representatives during a sitting last Friday.
