Once again Anguilla has found itself in the unfortunate position of not being able to start another new year with a functioning national budget and existing in the shadow of the one for the previous year. Ordinarily this should not be, but it is a consequence of the woeful economic and financial situation which has overtaken not only Anguilla, but the world in general.

In 2010, an election year in the island, the budget was not only hammered out late, but had to be substantially revised following disapproval by the UK Government. It was only in June of that year that the modified budget was agreed upon.

There were two complaints then by the incoming Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes. The first was that the previous Government did not prepare a 2010 budget before the general election. Secondly, due to the late budget the taxes and fees which the new Government was hoping to collect to help meet the budgeted revenue were lost with the delay of the Appropriation Bill embodying the budget. It was also alleged by other sources that substantial revenue was lost as well because the Speaker did not sign a number of tax measures passed in the House of Assembly.

Today there is a similar situation. The 2011 budget, which was figured out in December 2010 by local technocrats in the Ministry of Finance with some earlier input by UK officials, has not been signed off by the Governor on instructions from the Foreign Office. The upshot is that a revised budget, along certain stipulations by the UK Government, has to be worked out and approved. Whatever are the hurdles to cross, they are thought to be not insurmountable.

What the UK Government has proposed is to dispatch a two-man technical team to Anguilla to work with local finance officials to formulate the kind of budget that the UK Government thinks would best take into account the interest of the island. While some may argue, with some justification, that the decision appears to call into question the ability of our technocrats to design the required budget, it should also be measured alongside the recommendation made last week by the National Unity Group. The “peace-makers” suggested that “persons, other than the technocrats in the Ministry of Finance, including persons from regional bodies, should be drafted to meet with the technocrats from UK to resolve the 2011 budget.” Whatever that language signifies is a matter for interpreters and speculators.

From all appearances, the Chief Minister and Minister of Finance who, despite the overseeing British role in the territory’s affairs, carries significant local responsibility, has to agree to the visit of the UK technocrats. If this is really the case, it is a recognition that he must not slight the UK technocrats, and he cannot afford to delay the new budgetary process however strongly he may feel about the matter. It is in Government’s and Anguilla’s interest to speed up that process and to have the UK officials on the island as quickly as possible.

The fact is that the Anguilla Government can continue to operate its finances for 2011 without a formal budget until the end of June at the most, but the period between now and then is not a comfort zone. It is a time period for any necessary “shock therapy” to be applied to adjust expenditure and to be absorbed, rather than to wait until some rushed, and not well-thought-out, decisions might throw a monkey wrench in the process.

Another matter to consider is that, like 2010, the Government can lose a great deal of the over 21 million dollars it hopes to collect from taxes which should have commenced at the start of 2011. Surely, no Government should legally collect new taxes or fees without an approved budget. A quickly reconstructed 2011 budget would help to avoid the Chief Minister and Minister of Finance the dismay he expressed last year over the loss of revenue by the delayed budget then. The watch phrase to take into consideration, therefore, may be: “Hasten the revised budget to save tax revenue.”

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