Firefighters in Anguilla, charged with the management of fires, to prevent costly damage and injury to victims, found themselves in a completely different scenario on Wednesday, October 6.
Instead of fighting fire, they were advised about how to fight the high cost of living thereby avoiding personal financial distress, especially in this global COVID pandemic. The advice was simple and clear. They should carefully manage their money either already in a bank account or coming to hand as an income.
The timely and helpful advice was given by the well-articulated and experienced Chief Executive Officer of the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla, Ms. Sharmaine Francois.
The advice she gave was associated with Financial Education Month (October) currently being observed by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in which Anguilla holds membership.
“Are you financially fit?” she asked the firefighters. “How many of us can say yes we are financially fit to withstand the situation? Let us look at the impact of what COVID has done to our lives: reduction in income due to salary cuts; underemployment where persons might have had two employments but lost one; while other persons would have lost employment all together.
“We have seen not just property, but both financial and non-financial asset values decline as a result of the pandemic. There has been the loss of a second income as a result of the closure of the tourism sector for a lot of persons. We have seen disruption in cash flows in our businesses and limited opportunities due to the changing business environment. There have also been increases in expenses, with persons having to extend salaries or incomes to support other families that may be disadvantaged as a result of COVID.”
Ms Francois continued: “We have seen that a lot of persons have to go in their saving plans and CDs in order to survive, because if you are not earning you have to go into those saving plans. At least for persons who would have saved, that is a good thing, and that’s where the emergency fund comes in that we spoke about earlier.
“We here are fortunate to be earning an income, but we have to ensure that income is spent properly because we are not sure how long this pandemic will last. We have the ups and downs. When you think things are stabilising and people are vaccinating, we think that we will get to some form of normalcy – but that is not happening. There are different variants coming about, and for most of the islands the numbers are rising; and so, we have to see how best we can look at our income and reassess our spending.”
She advised the Firemen: “Prioritise essentials. Your essentials right now should be food; your security in terms of shelter, health and safety. Eliminate big-ticket items – like luxury vehicles and those kinds of things when it might not be the right time to do so because you have to assess the environment. If the COVID pandemic extends into another twelve months… and as we have our jobs today, we have to see how best we can save some of that income. That is critical. Save some of that income by replacing more expensive brand items with cheap brands.”
The NCBA’s CEO cautioned the firefighters, and other persons in Anguilla, about not allowing children to influence them to purchase expensive grocery items but to teach them to love the cheaper brands, among other matters. In terms other financial issues, she advised her listeners: “It is always wise to take a loan against your money in the bank. When you use cash, as a security on a loan, the interest rate is a lot lower – so when you would pay, 6, 7 or even 8% on a consumer cash-secured loan, you would pay about 4 or 5% based on whether it is in EC or US dollars.”
She also spoke about constructing excessively large homes and other buildings, requiring big loans, payable over many years, while smaller, but comfortable and compact, structures could suffice – with manageable loans.
The lecture given to the firefighters, by the NCBA official, was both instructive and candid, but softened by an intermingling of humour – providing moments of delightful but serious interaction as well.
The interactions and pleasantries could have continued for a longer time, but Ms. Francois had to rush off to another engagement. This was notwithstanding that she had called for, and was granted, half-an hour more to engage the firefighters in a lively lecture and discussion.
