One of the latest contributions of the Anguilla Development Board, to the people of Anguilla, is the provision of small, but useful, loans initially of EC$30,000, to fishermen, farmers, ferryboat operators as well as other persons engaged in small local tourism projects.
It may not be enough money for some borrowers, needing much more financing, but the loans are all provided from a lump sum of one million dollars, provided by the Government of Anguilla, called Bounce-Back Loans. If this is any encouragement, to the borrowers, the Development Board is to seek a further grant from the Government for on-lending to them, if possible.
This hope was held out several days ago by the Manager of the financial Statutory Body, Mrs. Althea Hodge. She was at the time speaking to The Anguillian newspaper and Klass FM Radio on October 15, about the Anguilla Development Board’s forty years of faithful financial – and perhaps boastful – service to the people of the island. She was also speaking in connection with Financial Information Month, currently being observed by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
“We would have had some funds prior to this Administration – one million from the previous Administration and then another million – Mrs. Hodge acknowledged. “The funds that the Government injected now are specific for the bounce back loans. It is one million. We have the funds to date, and I think that right now they are looking at probably another injection of some of those funds. We are awaiting that, but we are managing the current bounce-back loans.”
Mrs. Hodge further explained: “Initially we had a number of enquiries. I think a lot of persons expected more in terms of the fact that the maximum amount was initially 30,000 per loan – and some individuals were saying that wasn’t adequate to meet their needs. So the Administration opted to increase that to 54,000. At present, there are discussions to increase it slightly taking into consideration ferryboat operators. So we are awaiting the final word.
“Over the years, the Anguilla Development Board received much funding for on-lending from the Caribbean Development Bank and the Anguilla Social Security Board. We borrowed over 45 million dollars but were able to lend a 175 million – and this means that something good has been happening with the Anguilla Development Board.
“We have had some challenges and we have to be mindful of the conditions we are in. We came off from Hurricane Irma and then COVID. For ADB – Anguilla Development Board – for some time we were unable to on-lend as we wished. While we had inquiries, we were not able to on-lend so we ended up in a situation where a number of our very good loans were matured or paid by the commercial banks. In every institution you are going to have the bad debtors and, as a result, there was an increase in the non-performing loans, but we have tried our best to work with individuals and tried to put certain things in place to see how best we can address those persons.”
Mrs. Hodge spoke to the media representatives surrounded by what she described as a “road show” of projects financed by the Anguilla Development Board over the years, and exhibited in photographs by long-time employee, Mrs. Janice Gumbs. Those scenes included students’ loans; home mortgages; businesses; recently the Anguilla Youth Foundation; the Get-Set Young Entrepreneurs Programme of the Department of Youth and Culture; projects financed under the Bounce-Back Loans; community sponsorships including the summer sewing programmes; women affairs projects; musical instruments for the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School; and summer camps among other photographic records.
“The input of ADB in the community has been significant, and a number of our local businesses started out with the Anguilla Development Board and they eventually graduated to the commercial banks,” Mrs. Hodge added. “We have also financed a number of workshops; catered to areas of tourism, construction and other projects. So they have all been impacted by what the Anguilla Development Board has been able to offer.”
She went on to speak on the differences between a Development Board and a Commercial Bank, and the benefits to be derived from the former including lower interest rates.
