 Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of the resolution brought to this honorable House. By the Minister of Finance to borrow from the Caribbean Development Bank the sum of five point two million dollars to finance the building capacity and resilience of the health sector to respond to the coronavirus 19 project. Mr. Speaker, this government believes that sustainable inclusive development requires us to paraphrase Dr. Jean Leo, the president of the CDB, to build a resilient ecosystem encompassing all dimensions of resilience including social, financial, economic, institutional, environmental and yes Mr. Speaker, health. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that our government is taking steps in all of these dimensions of resilience to ensure that we reduce the vulnerability of our economy to of course the vagaries of the shocks emanating from the global economy, natural disasters and pandemics. Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the massive and unprecedented damage that the impact of COVID-19 had on our economy. Indeed Mr. Speaker, Saint Lucia was one of the economies in the world had its heat by the pandemic suffering a deep and unparalleled contraction in economic activity of 24.4%. Mr. Speaker, the IMF has indicated in its latest article for report that this is the largest output decline on record in Saint Lucia. It is the view of our government that the COVID pandemic was mismanaged by the former government from misguided fiscal policies that did not mitigate the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. We have articulated before Mr. Speaker the reasons for this previously in debates in this honorable house and there is no need to revisit it Mr. Speaker at this time. There is no doubt however that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the structural weaknesses in the economy and clearly showed the need for us to address the structural weaknesses in our economy. There is no doubt Mr. Speaker that there is a need to reduce the structural challenges to growth and boost productivity by diversifying our economy through greater focus on agriculture and in particular food security, private sector development, exports, increasing energy, independence and addressing labor skill shortages and shortcomings through the establishment of the youth economy. Mr. Speaker this government has taken a strategy of a deliberate and focused approach of rebuilding our economy and our policies are beginning to bear fruit. After recording growth of 12.2% in 2021, Saint Lucia has recorded significant growth in 2022. In fact while we await the data from the statistics department the ECCB has estimated Saint Lucia's growth at a whopping 15.88% in 2022. Yes Mr. Speaker you heard right 15.88% but Mr. Speaker we will have ample time to debate the successful economic policies of our government shortly in the debate on the estimates and of course the policy debate. This growth estimate by the ECCB is much higher than the initial IMF forecast of 9.1% and reflects the success of the favorable policies pursued by this government led by a capable, competent and highly proficient economist our Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and the member for Cassuages. The sustained robust economic recovery of the economy is also taking place Mr. Speaker amid significant headwinds from the economic repercussions from the Russia war in Ukraine resulting in a lowering of global growth, increase inflation, higher interest rates, high oil prices and supply side bottlenecks but this Prime Minister and this government is ensuring that this economy is taking off notwithstanding the turbulence of the moment. The IMF in its latest world economic output in January of this year cut global economic growth in 2023 from 3.4% to 2.9% and inflation is projected at 6.6%. The IMF further forecast that the balance of risk to growth are tilted to the downside particularly possibly having severe health outcomes associated with the reopening of China and the ongoing Russia war in Ukraine being major risk factors causing global growth to contract even further. The reopening of China is likely to boost economic growth but that there are risk associated with the transmission of COVID across borders and having potential adverse impacts associated with the spread of the virus. Mr. Speaker, the world has learned to adapt and adjust to COVID and the reopening of the world has been largely successful with St. Lucia being one of the most successful countries in its swift economic recovery. However, Mr. Speaker, COVID remains with us and we must not rest and become complacent. At the 44th meeting of heads of carry come recently held in the Bahamas between 15th and 17th of February less than two weeks ago as of government reaffirmed the need for member states to remain vigilant and continue to carry out active surveillance and promote the use of established prevention and control guidelines to curb further the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. The heads emphasize, Mr. Speaker, the need for a more comprehensive approach to COVID-19, monkeypox and other regional health security threats. In this regard, Mr. Speaker, I wish to accentuate in this Parliament the decision by the World Bank to establish a pandemic fund which will finance critical investments to strengthen pandemic prevention preparedness and response activities at national, regional and global levels with a focus on low and middle income countries. We must not drop our guard, Mr. Speaker, and ensure that we take the necessary action to be proactive and address the impact of COVID-19. It is to be noted, Mr. Speaker, that CAFA reported 12 cases of COVID-19 sub variant XBB1.5 which has been circulating in China, the United States, the United Kingdom and some other countries. According to the Chief Medical Officer, the confirmed cases are distributed in most districts with the northern and central regions most affected. According to John Hopkins University, this strain of the virus, which accounted for less than 10% of cases in the U.S., now accounts for more than 25% of cases. It is said that the virus contains more mutation to evade immunity than any other variant. It is further said by the experts that the virus has a mutation that is helping the virus to better bind to cells, thus making it more transmissible. The experts have indicated, Mr. Speaker, that someone infected by an earlier strain of COVID is likely to be reinfected with XBB1.5, given that it is more immune, evasive and a person's immune response naturally decreases over time following infection. This reminds us, Mr. Speaker, that we must constantly be on our guard as new mutations of COVID-19 are likely and ensure that we equip ourselves with the tools available to combat this dangerous virus. This loan, Mr. Speaker, from the Caribbean Development Bank in the amount of 5.2 million U.S. dollars will go a long way in strengthening the capacity of the health system to respond to health threats and emergencies. It must be seen within the context as one of the important channels of assistance that will be required for St. Lucia's strategic holistic response to COVID-19 to ensure that we can keep our economy open and to ensure that people are protected, especially the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions who are vulnerable to this disease. Mr. Speaker, as I prepare to close, I want to of course express that I'm sure that we can all agree that this is a small price to ensure that our economy continues its rapid recovery from COVID-19 and our people remain safe. The loan is highly concessional in that, it's highly concessionary and in that it is repairable over 20 years in 80 equal installments with a freer grace period at a variable interest rate of 5.16 percent on the amount of the principal disburse and outstanding. Our government is a credible, trustworthy and honest government, Mr. Speaker. We will only go through credible agencies like the CDB. Having said so, Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for granting me leave to make this very brief intervention and therefore I yield the floor, Mr. Speaker.