UK Rejects Anguillan Request For More Borrowing Flexibility

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

17 August 2009

Chris Bryant, the British Minister responsible for Overseas Territories including Anguilla, has requested supporting fiscal plans to justify an Anguillan request for greater borrowing flexibility. A government delegation returned to Anguilla from London and stated that there was no agreement on the matter.

Bryant contended that borrowing guidelines are already flexible, but a credible and realistic plan for repaying debt over future years was needed. It was stated that a realistic, sustainable plan for the future would include details on broadening the tax base.

Anguillan Finance Minister, Victor Banks, stated that they could not come up with a sustainable plan without reference to what is happening in the developed world – the recession and its affect on the level of tourism arrivals, jobs, and investments in Anguilla.

Opposition member in the Anguillan House of Assembly, Hubert Hughes, said that the British government's response should not surprise the authorities. "If revenue is progressing and the British can see sustainability in that progression they would ease borrowing guidelines according to the government's fiscal policies," Hughes told reporters at a media briefing.

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