This year, representatives of businesses in Anguilla are completing new and upgraded forms on balance of payments as required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for measuring their external economic activity.
The new forms were introduced during this week to a number of business persons at four workshop sessions held by the Statistical Department from Monday to Thursday. “Our economy in Anguilla is a very open one and therefore we import a lot and, by doing so, we also export cash because we have to pay for the goods that we import,” Chief Statistical Officer, Mrs Lori-Rae Alleyne Franklin, explained.
Once the required information is filled in on the forms, each year, the Anguilla Statistical Department, in conjunction with the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, calculates the balance of payments and national accounts, according to Mrs Alleyne Franklin. The information is used mainly by policymakers to assist in managing the island’s economy.
The workshop sessions were facilitated by Mr Chandar Henry of the Steering Committee of the International Monetary Fund’s Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC); Mrs Seana Benjamin Mack of the ECCB; Mr Careme Carty, Senior Statistics Officer – Economic Section of the Anguilla Statistical Department; and Mrs Alleyne-Franklin, the Chief Statistics Officer.
