St Vincent calls for greater concessional financing for small island states Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is urging development partners and international financial institutions to expand access to concessional financing for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as they face increasing economic and environmental vulnerabilities.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in London on March 8, Foreign Affairs Minister Fitzgerald Bramble said development financing must better reflect the realities facing small island nations.

Bramble noted that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines currently has a debt-to-GDP ratio of approximately 110 percent and said this must be considered in discussions on financing for development.

“We wish to recommend and strongly suggest that this Commonwealth body focuses on two recommendations,” Bramble said.

“First, that development partners and international financial institutions must scale up grant-based and highly concessionary financing, and second, that the criteria for concessionary financing must move beyond GDP as the sole indicator and incorporate economic and environmental vulnerabilities.”

Bramble also highlighted the impact natural disasters have had on the country’s economy.
“Over the past five years, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines experienced two natural disasters — a volcanic eruption and a hurricane — which devastated our country,” he said.

He stressed that highly concessional financing is critical if the development needs of small island states are to be properly addressed.

“It is important for us to understand the significance of development financing being highly concessionary in nature if we are serious about the developmental needs of Small Island Developing States,” Bramble added.

The Commonwealth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held at Lancaster House in London.