The Attorney General, Mr John McKendrick QC; Ms Anthea Ipinson Conner of the Ministry of Finance; Ms Felicia Hill, Anguilla Chamber of Commerce; Ms Marslyn Richardson of the NCBA and Ms Althea Hodge, Anguilla Development Board attended an important conference in St Kitts, which discussed and developed an international agreement and draft legislation to set up an OECS Small and Medium Enterprise Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme.
Ms Tira Greene and Ms Merline Barrett, of Keithley Lake & Associates also attended in their roles as counsel retained by the World Bank to draft the inter-governmental agreement and proposed draft legislation.
The conference was arranged by the World Bank with the assistance of the OECS and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
The conference focused on how a partial credit guarantee scheme could function across the OECS countries. The scheme would provide for a new proposed partial credit guarantee corporation to encourage banks and other regulated financial institutions to lend money to small and medium enterprises, and in particular those who would struggle to raise the collateral normally required by commercial banks. The proposed corporation would guarantee the credit of the banks. The scheme would focus on guaranteeing credit for those who would not normally be able to meet the regular credit requirements of commercial banks, whether because of the size of the business or the difficulty providing collateral.
The conference discussed, in particular, the focus of the credit guarantee scheme providing guarantees to banks to assist young people to obtain access to credit to expand, develop and set up businesses.
The Attorney General commented that: “Small and medium enterprises play a vital role in our economy. They must be encouraged. The proposed credit guarantee scheme would provide a mechanism for young entrepreneurs to access credit to develop their businesses, encouraging much needed investment and employment in Anguilla.”
On-going discussions are taking place in respect of Anguilla’s involvement.
The Attorney General also met with Mr Timothy Antoine, the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in respect of how they can work together to encourage investment and revenue growth in Anguilla. They have scheduled a follow-up call for later in the year.
– Press Release
