The Ministry of Finance, of the Government of Anguilla, has facilitated a package of five hundred thousand East Caribbean dollars for small and medium-sized businesses impacted by Covid-19.
The matter was taken to the House of Assembly on Tuesday, October 6, by Premier Dr. Ellis Webster, Minister of Finance. He was at the time making a statement on the “Allocation of Funds for the Anguilla Development Board, and the Water Corporation of Anguilla, in the Supplementary Appropriation Act 2020” passed in the Assembly on September 25.
He told the Speaker that his statement was to clarify the allocation of funds to the Development Board on that date. “This does not increase the expenditure [regarding the Supplementary Appropriation Act],” he explained. “The 500,000 EC dollars, originally provided for the Anguilla Development Board, as revenue support for 2020, will be re-purposed as an equity injection to facilitate loans to small and medium businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19. We feel that it is essential that we have been able to continue the unemployment benefits – but businesses, especially our small businesses, which have been severely impacted, have not benefitted. And so, we will like to have the 500,000 dollars, allocated to the Development Board, to be re-purposed for loans to small and medium businesses in Anguilla.”
Premier Webster continued: “Additionally, as Covid-19 revenue losses for some statutory bodies have not been as severe as originally anticipated, some potential savings have been identified. However, the provisions for incremental subventions for these statutory bodies have not been reduced in the Supplementary Appropriation Act No 2 of 2020. It is envisioned that these entities may still require further financial assistance in their projected deficits or reduced expenditure measures. One such entity may be the Water Corporation of Anguilla which we know has had some deficit…”
Following the sitting of the House, The Anguillian newspaper requested Premier Webster to elaborate further on the allocation of funds to the Development Board. “We just don’t want it to fund whatever they are doing [including] the non-performing loans and that type of stuff,” he explained. “We want small businesses to get some funding, and we feel this is a way that we can channel it to the Development Board…
The British Government said that all the statutory bodies should send in what they would need because of Covid-19. They [the Development Board] said they did not need any money because of Covid-19, but it had been budgeted for them to get half-a-million dollars. We said give them the 500,000 still, but have them give it in loans to small and medium businesses instead of it going to them for budgetary assistance.”
