The one hour and a half presentation of the national budget for 2003 in the Anguilla House of Assembly by the Minister of Finance on Tuesday December 10, appears to call on the people of the island to tighten their belts as was suggested last year.

Presented under the theme Being Effective Stewards Today, the Minister in his Budget Address re-stated his position for Anguillians to be prepared to pay their own way. He in fact had this to say: “Punished for our own success, Anguilla has graduated from grant and even concessionary financing from regional and international donor organisations. We have little choice but to pay our own way. We cannot abdicate our responsibility. We have to meet the challenges with our own solutions and weather the storm. We [the Government ministers] have been placed here by the people to be effective stewards and make the tough choices for them.”
The Minister stated that anti-tax sentiments in Anguilla were among the highest in the world. While there is indeed a lot of opposition to taxation and a need for many of our people to come to terms with this requirement, it is difficult not to take notice of some of the complaints and criticisms from tax-payers. While some may not mind paying increased taxes and fees, they have a point in saying that the taxation and other levies imposed should not be unbearable. They also have a point in stating that there is a need for Government to create greater employment opportunities not only for them to have a decent standard of living, but to be able to afford to contribute to the budget by way of taxes and fees and thereby to the running of the country.
The theme of the Minister’s Budget Address is a correct one. He is acknowledging that there is a need for Government to be prudent in spending the people’s money and seeing that its workers do the same. By so doing, much credence would be given to Mr. Banks’ statement that he and his colleagues in the Executive Council feel strongly that they “have to be effective stewards today to ensure that the future is one of hope, one of opportunity, one of prosperity for all Anguillians.”
The 2003 Budget is one of much challenge. This is not only because it relies heavily on stringent revenue collections from increased taxes and fees, but contains promises for a number of capital aid projects and other improved services of a tall yet reachable order. It is telling the people of the island to have faith and hope that the present lean times will give way to brighter days of employment, income generation and prosperity. We can only look expectantly and with courage to the future and keep hope alive for, as the Bible says, if we have no hope we will all be miserable creatures.

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