Every year the Government’s Budget to finance the public services in Anguilla is getting bigger and bigger. The 2007 estimates of revenue and expenditure are at an all time high.

This is a far cry from the dark days of 1967 when the late Treasurer, Walter Hodge, declared quite bluntly, “There is not a damn cent in the Treasury to run the government.” Drawing upon his fiscal skills, he then prepared a budget for June to December that year with some of the revenue heads being the same main sources of income today. No fault of his, the estimates and the actual income were ridiculously and unbelievably low compared to the present high levels.

In 1967 Customs duty was, as is now, the main support of the budget and brought in just under $50,000. In comparison, in an exceedingly more prosperous Anguilla and a more developed tax base, the 2007 estimate under the Customs subhead is a staggering $53 million. In the words of the Minister of Finance, in his Budget Address this week, “the surging Import Duty (Other) collections are reflective of the growth in economic activity…driven by the tourism and construction sectors in particular.”

The Anguilla Revolution, the 40th Anniversary of which will be celebrated in 2007, provides a good measurement at which to begin chronicling the financial and economic successes of the island. The total 1967 revenue-based budget was not even $200,000. Compare this with the current projected $174 million for 2007! This shows graphically how the economy has grown by leaps and bounds since the revolution.

Taking into account the remarkable fiscal performance and economic growth in Anguilla over the years, the theme of the 2007 Budget Address, “Building on Our Successes”, is well in order and speaks to the island’s continuing prosperity. We have certainly emerged from the dark days of 1967 to brighter times. Much of this success is owed to the determination of the Anguillian people to take their future into their own hands and to build a new Anguilla of which all of its nationals could be proud.

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