Government has pledged to provide a grant to the Bermuda Industrial Union Credit Union in the next fiscal year.The amount of money to be given has yet to be stated.Government announced in the Throne Speech on Friday that the grant was “in keeping with its guiding principle to help people and institutions”.Credit Union president Graham Nesbitt said the funding was agreed to following consultation with Premier Paula Cox.“The credit union deals with lower income people, and we are there for them in these economic times. It is a good thing for us. It will help us to get the Government out of the economic downturn.“There are a lot of people out there who need to borrow money to make ends meet to consolidate their debts, and we need to have the finances to meet the demand,” he said.“We’ve had a lot of consultations with the Premier about how the Credit Union operates and how governments assist them across the world.”Mr Nesbitt said the Credit Union loans were being repaid in good time.“Our delinquency has been kept to a minimum and we are on top of our delinquent accounts,” he said.Asked for a dollar amount for the loans requested he said: “I can’t give you that amount, but I can tell you how the credit union operates. We lend out four times the amount that you have in there so that shows that you have a big demand.”Shadow Minister of Finance Bob Richards reserved comment on the grant until more specific information becomes available.“The pledge was made by Government and it’s up to the Government to explain itself. We don’t know if this is a bail-out and until we hear what exactly the situation is I will reserve comment.”Ms Cox would not say how much the credit union would receive but said it would not be “extremely high but it will provide some coverage”.She noted that with recent legislative changes the credit union was now “not subject to political vagaries” but “under the remit of an independent regulator”.