Anguilla’s Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes, vehemently denied ever voluntarily giving the British Government a personal commitment to balance the island’s overall budget by the beginning of 2013.
He made the denial on Monday, September 10, while speaking at the Teachers’ Resource Centre during the start of a two-day public forum, organised by Ministry of Finance and Economic Development personnel, to review Anguilla’s economic and fiscal position. The event was also aimed at facilitating public consultation on a Framework for Fiscal Responsibility – a proposal to replace the Borrowing Guidelines between theAnguillaand UK Governments.
Mr. Hughes’ angry reaction was triggered by the following statement about balancing the budget, made by Governor Alistair Harrison. The statement has often been repeated by British Government officials, and always disclaimed by Mr. Hughes.
In addressing the forum, the Governor said in part: “The new governments which took office in theUKandAnguillain 2010 recognised the need to get the public finances under control as their highest priority. The British Government has introduced a painful austerity programme, affecting all in theUKpublic service. This is bearing fruit in lower borrowing costs, which create a virtuous circle and are giving theUKthe basis for recovery.
“Similarly, in Anguilla, soon after taking office the Chief Minister wrote to the Minister for the Overseas Territories volunteering a commitment to bring the budget into balance. I quote from his letter [holding it aloft] to Henry Bellingham of 21 June 2010:’….My government has an unwavering commitment to restoring the recurrent budget to a balanced position by the end of 2011 and the overall budget by 2013′. On the basis of that commitment Mr. Bellingham agreed a request from the Chief Minister to borrow EC$50 million [from the Caribbean Development Bank] to get Anguilla’s public finances through their short-term difficulty.
“There has been some misunderstanding since then of just who decided that the public finances should be brought to balance by the beginning of 2013, but the record makes clear that the credit for that commitment should go to the Chief Minister alone.”
Chief Minister Hughes’ responded in part: “A lot has been said here this morning about what the Chief Minister committed himself to… As far as I am concerned, I did not make any pledge …that I could settleAnguilla’s dismal financial situation within three years. As a matter of fact, I demanded reparation for the colossal damage that was done to Anguilla’s economy within ten years after I was kicked out of office [in 2000]…I did not ask, I did not suggest, that I had the miracle to settle Anguilla’s economic situation within three years. I don’t work obeah and I don’t believe in it. How could I do something like that?
“How come theCayman Islandswere told the same thing that I was told: ‘you have to get your financial situation back on track by the end of 2012, within three years’? I have a letter to prove that. I have challenged that statement on several times already. And it is not true that I said that I could do that. I was asked to do that and I had to comply.But every conceivable effort has been made by the authorities to ensure that there is no economic development inAnguilla.”
The statements were made by the Governor and the Chief Minister in the presence of a large number of public and private sector representatives inAnguilla, as well as officials from the Caribbean Development Bank and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
