After many years of waiting, public servants have received some of their “deferred” salary payments.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ellis Webster, made the announcement at the Government’s press conference on Monday, January 24, 2022. He stated: “Because the Government of Anguilla had a small surplus, at the end of 2021, we agreed to pay the deferred salaries of public servants.”
He recalled that the government owed over $4 million to public servants. He stated: “We decided that we would pay half of what is still owed [to them] – and that is over EC$4 million.”
Dr. Webster indicated that the impacted public servants are pleased with the amount of the deferred salaries they received so far. He noted: “We paid half of [what is owed to them]. We paid EC$2.7 million of it. I think that many of the public servants were happy to get that.”
During the most recent global economic downturn of 2008, Anguilla’s public servants were asked to take a temporary reduction in salaries so that basic and essential functions of the Government could remain operational. The lost earnings were simply “deferred” with a promise that they would be recouped at a later date. Dr. Webster did not comment on when, or if, public servants would recoup the remaining portion of the deferred salaries.
