ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI) made a significant contribution to the revenue earned by the Grenada government during the first six months of this year, according to figures released here.
Under the CBI, foreign investors are granted citizenship of the island in return for making a significant contribution to the country’s socio-economic development.
Earlier this month, Grenada said it had decertified five projects under the and that the persons associated with these projects “shall immediately refrain from sourcing potential investors to invest in the decertified project.”
In June, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell announced the authorities were decertifying several projects because they failed to commence despite being approved years before his administration was elected to office in June last year.
According to the figures released here, for January to June this year, the CBI earned EC$157 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents), surpassing the amount made in any given year since the program began in 2014.
But the top revenue earners were the Inland Revenue Department, with EC$229.3 million, and the Customs Division, which earned EC$211.7 million for the same period.
The CBI was June’s most significant revenue earner, earning EC$48.9. The Ministry of Finance is yet to publicly disclose the number of people who gained citizenship through the CBI for the second quarter of 2023. During the first quarter, the figure was 980.
A review of the 2023 Estimates and Revenue shows that the government is projecting it will earn EC$240,461,920 for the year.
In general, revenue for June 2023 surpassed the targeted projection by EC$44.4 million.
“Current Revenue for June 2023 was EC$131.2 million, which was EC$44.4 million more than the 2023 target and EC$66.6 million more than the collections for June 2022. Total grants in June 2023 amounted to EC$1.9 million, which was EC$2.2 million less than the target and EC$11.2 million less than the actual in June 2022,” the Ministry of Finance reported in the June fiscal report.
The report, posted this month, also shows that the total Current Expenditure, excluding principal repayments for June, was EC$51.4 million, EC$7.8 million less than the EC$59.2 million targeted.
“Capital Expenditure in June 2023 was EC$1 million or EC$16.4 million less than the amount spent in June 2022 and above the EC$18.9 million targeted for the month this year,” said the nine-page fiscal report, which also showed that a primary balance (including grants) of EC$64.1 million was recorded for June 2023.
“This was EC$47.4 million more than the month’s target and EC$70.9 million more than the amount recorded in June 2022. Principal Repayments on Debt for June 2023 was EC$4.1 million, while interest payments totaled EC$1.4 million,” the report noted.
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