Anguilla’s finances constitute a constant haunting of the minds of all seriously thinking persons in Anguilla and it appears to all and sundry that there are more questions than answers.
If ever there was a critical time in the year to assess the island’s financial situation, it is now. It is a prime period for budgetary preparation and, in order to sensibly approach this requirement, there is a need to look back at how the island has coped with the difficult financial problem over the past months. Conversely, there is also the necessity to consider what new mechanisms, in terms of increasing cash flows, need to be put in place to achieve some balance in next year’s budget between public expenditure and revenue.
But what seems to be an important consideration right now is just how the 2012 budget has fared so far in the eighth month of the year. It is believed that this and other related matters are subjects which both theAnguillaand British Governments are discussing. It would be interesting to know how those talks are proceeding and what looms ahead for the people ofAnguilla.
While the Government has overall responsibility to ensure that money is available at the Treasury Department, to fund the public services for the coming year, as well as the balance of this year, one can only imagine how difficult it is for those civil servants who have to put the figures together. This has to be a most difficult burden especially for the Permanent Secretary Finance who has a lot to do with what may be called the magical numbers and then packaging them into the budget document for presentation to Executive Council. The task of the Department of Inland Revenue, as a tax and fee collecting agency in these very lean times, is also an onerous one.
Clearly, with Anguilla’s financial crisis still at its low ebb, and showing little or no sign of improvement, it is difficult to see how the Government can achieve a balanced budget for 2013. The major contributing sources of revenue are simply not performing well enough and, with no public or private sector development in progress, the economy remains dead. The present uncertainty surrounding Cap Juluca, once regarded as the flagship of the island’s tourism industry, has added a new set of woes to the gloomy economy. Unless something is urgently done by Government to solve the untenable situation, it can only worsen to the regret and suffering of the island on a whole.
Among the questions being asked by the populace is whether there will be increased taxation to boost revenue for next year’s budget and, if so, where will they get the money from to pay? There is too much silence in Government about the island’s public finances and, at this critical stage of budgetary preparation, the people need to know what the situation is rather than doing their own guessing.
There is also a need to know what cuts, if any, in expenditure the Government may be contemplating as a means of safeguarding the budget, and how this may affect either its employees or the public in general. One cut the Government has not embarked on, to its own advantage, is the continuing and long period of debt it owes to civil servants which now stands at over 27 million dollars. A cut off period will save Government a lot of money to meet other financial requirements later on.
It is hoped that the Government will keep the public well informed about the level ofAnguilla’s public finances, and about the efforts it is making to improve the economic situation of the island and its people. All persons in the public and private sectors are anxiously looking for answers because every pocket in the society is badly affected.
