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June 19, 2020

As revenues continue to fall way below expenditures the government says it is uncertain whether salaries and wages for June will be paid on time.

However, the Cabinet said yesterday that all will be done to ensure that salaries, wages, pensions and emoluments are paid on time at each pay period; and, that essentials are provided to the nation’s many institutions for their safe operation.

The closure of the country’s borders on March 26, 2020, essentially triggered a significant reduction in economic activity and employment, both of which will remain challenging until such time as the economy is fully opened-up.

“All government employees and pensioners have been paid their salaries, wages and pensions on-time at the end of March, April and May 2020. There is uncertainty about June 30. Covid-19, the Cabinet agreed, will continue to be a threat to Antigua and Barbuda’s well-being for many months ahead.”

In an earlier interview Prime Minister Gaston Browne said this is why borders needed to be open.

“Unless we open our borders and restore our economy, we face another powerful enemy – economic collapse, high unemployment, overwhelming poverty, and no financial means to sustain ourselves,”’ he said..

“This is a time to face the inescapable truth — frankly and boldly — that we cannot take the unviable, risk-averse decision, to keep our country’s borders closed.

“Unless the economy is reopened and every possible thing is done to rebuild it; the challenges we now confront will not be overcome any time soon. That is why we must not hesitate to act and to act now