Speaker of the House, Hon. Michael Peyrefitte was in New York on Thursday, January 16th during which he received an award on behalf of the Government of Belize. The award was presented to the country after it successfully renegotiated the Superbond earning the recognition of being “2013 Sovereign Restructuring Deal of the Year.” Peyrefitte received the award in Gotham Hall in New York City. It was presented to the government of Belize by the Latin Finance publication which covers markets of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Speaking to Hon. Peyrefitte, he explained to the Guardian that it was an honor to have received the award on behalf of the government and he expressed great pride and satisfaction for having been able to contribute to the successful renegotiation of the bond.
The award is of particular importance since this singles out Belize as having been able to negotiate the bond to its benefit. This is a big deal since other countries have not been able to do the same. Countries like Jamaica and Barbados for example are struggling to get their public debt under control with both taking actions which include wage cuts as well as retrenchment in the public sector in order for this to be done.
Under the restructured bond, Belize renegotiated the superbond which was an amalgamation of multiple loans which were secured by the People’s United Party under some onerous terms saddling the country with a debt that could not be sustained. Even worse there was nothing that could have been shown for the loans which had been made. The bond stood at a staggering U.S. $547.5 million dollars. At the conclusion of the negotiations in March of 2013, Belize saved an impressive 300 million dollars. Under the old arrangement, the Government and people would have paid a total of U.S. $794,295,350, of that the principal payments represent U.S. $546,800,000 and interest alone would have been U.S. $247,495,350. Simple mathematics applied to the figures would suggest that the relief is in the region of almost 19% of the total.
The success of the negotiations have the international community looking into the process as a precedent for future sovereign restructurings.
House Speaker Peyrefitte was responsible for arranging a series of top-level meetings between the Prime Minister and the Co-Chairs of the Coordinating Committee that led to the key break-through in the discussions, and continues to serve as a liaison between Belize and the international financial community. After delivering a well received acceptance speech, Speaker Peyrefitte was personally congratulated by a number of the attendees, demonstrating the significance of the transaction to the region and its financial markets.
