We’re going to spend ‘every cent’ of the $100m loan- Premier Wheatley
This assurance was given by Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) during the Continuation of the Second Sitting of the Third Session of the Fifth House of Assembly (HoA) on January 30, 2026.
Premier Wheatley was at the time expressing his confidence in Minister for Communications and Works Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5), who he said was unable to get many infrastructural projects done over the recent years due to the lack of funding and the many challenges faced by the territory, such as the hurricanes of 2017, the global pandemic and then the political crisis brought on by the Commission of Inquiry (CoI).
‘We’re going to get the money spent’
The $100 million loan facility with CIBC was signed on October 31, 2024. This pivotal funding is to support critical infrastructure development across the Territory, aligning with the 2024-2026 Medium-Term Fiscal Plan and Medium-Term Debt Strategy.
“And this one-hundred-million-dollar loan is the biggest loan in the history of the Virgin Islands, and some persons question whether we are going to get the money spent, every drop, every drop, every cent, I telling you, we’re going to get the money spent,” Premier Wheatley said.
It is unclear how much money has been spent to date or how much exactly has been drawn out of the bank.
In June 2025, Premier Wheatley confirmed that $10 million of the $100 million loan facility was disbursed to the government at the loan signing in October 2024.
He also indicated that while an estimated $29 million had been scheduled for drawdown in 2025, delays in procurement had affected the pace of spending.
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