HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC - Parliament has passed legislation allowing the One Bermuda Alliance government to borrow an additional one billion US dollars after it said it needed to act swiftly before it ran out of funds.
The Government Loans Amendment Act 2013 was approved by a majority vote  allowing the government to raise the national debt ceiling from US$1.45 billion to US$2.5 billion.
Finance Minister Bob Richards said the government, which came into office two and a half months ago, regretted having to borrow more cash but the only alternative was to cut jobs and services.