by Linda Straker
- Overall CBI revenue for 4th quarter of 2021 was EC$281,610,000
- Government earned EC$120,285,000 over same period
- Government received EC$52,812,000 under the NTF
Data from the Ministry of Finance website has revealed that the country’s overall revenue from the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI), for the 4th quarter of 2021 was EC$281,610,000 or US$104.3 million. The amount earned by Government for the same period was EC$120,285,000.
The Ministry of Finance posts a quarterly report of the CBI program on its website once the data is compiled. The 4th quarter for 2021 was recently posted. However, Mike Sylvester, Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry who is currently the interim chairman of the CBI Committee, said that not all of the EC$281,610,000 end up in the consolidated fund.
“While it is correct to say that the country earned that amount of money, it’s a reflection of money paid to project developers that the Government must record, but does not have access to. That is money investors invest in the hotel projects for example, there is an amount set in law that investors can invest in these investments and that is the money that goes to the developers. What the Government receives from those investments is a set amount of US$50,000,” he said.
“If you look at the data on the website you will see a section listed as budgetary fees, that is what the Government receives from these hotel investment projects,” he explained. That amount in the data document is listed as EC$32,265,000.
The other source of income for the Government under the CBI is the National Transformation Fund (NTF). According to the data document, the Government received EC$52,812,000 for the fourth quarter. The NTF requires an individual to pay a certain amount to the Fund and subsequently after going through the relevant and necessary due process and payment of other fees, that individual can be granted citizenship.
Once citizenship is granted that person qualifies for a passport. The data further shows that for the fourth quarter of 2021, 1,272 NTF applicants became citizens while 24 individuals were denied the opportunity to become Grenadians through the CBI.
Revenue from CBI is used to fund Government capital and social projects.
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