Prime Minister Gaston Browne says the government’s housing initiatives have helped narrow wealth inequality in Antigua and Barbuda, citing a significant improvement in the country’s Gini coefficient since his administration took office in 2014.

Speaking on the Brown and Brown Show on Sunday, Browne said programmes such as the Housing Assistance Programme for Indigent People (HAPI) and affordable housing developments are designed to transfer wealth to ordinary citizens by making homeownership more accessible.

“Every time we build those properties and someone benefits from the properties, we are transferring wealth to the ordinary man, the ordinary woman,” Browne said.

He said when his administration took office, Antigua and Barbuda’s Gini coefficient—a statistical measure of income and wealth inequality—stood at 0.87, but has since fallen to 0.47.

“The Gini coefficient, which is a measure of the skewness of wealth in Antigua and Barbuda, was extremely high when we came in 2014. It was 0.87. We now got it down to 0.47,” Browne said.

He argued that the improvement reflects a broader distribution of wealth across the country.

“The closer to one is the more skewed. It means that the wealthy people are making all the money,” he said.

Browne rejected criticism that the country’s economic gains have benefited only a small segment of the population, saying government policies have helped spread resources more evenly.

“If indeed, as they try to claim, there is so much corruption within the country and we’re wasting public resources… it would have shown in the country’s stats,” he said.

The prime minister also pointed to improvements in Antigua and Barbuda’s fiscal position and rising per capita income as additional indicators of the country’s economic progress under his administration.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: PM Browne Says Government Housing Policies Have Reduced Wealth Inequality.