Revenue from Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Programme is routinely used to finance government activities, with available balances fluctuating as money comes in and is spent, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Saturday.
Responding to a listener’s question about money held in the CIP investment fund, Browne said balances generally ranged between $5 million and $10 million, sometimes approaching $15 million.
“Generally, those funds are depleted as they come in,” he said on the Browne and Browne Show.
He said the money was “depleted to fund various aspects of government,” but did not provide a breakdown of expenditure or identify a balance as of a specific date.
The exchange followed a question about whether CIP revenue had previously been used to cover shortfalls involving government wages and Social Security payments. Browne confirmed that it had.
He did not specify how much had been directed to either purpose or when those payments were made.
The discussion highlighted the programme’s role in supporting government finances, with Browne describing receipts as money used to meet expenditure rather than a balance that steadily accumulates.
However, he did not explain during the exchange how the fund’s spending was authorized or where detailed accounts could be reviewed.
The listener also asked whether CIP revenue had increased or decreased compared with the previous year, using figures through the third quarter of 2026.
Browne said the third-quarter figures were not yet available to him and that he could not give the comparison.
“We haven’t had the third-quarter figures as yet, so I am not sure,” he said.
Asked whether second-quarter figures could instead be used, Browne said comparisons were normally made annually and indicated that he believed second-quarter reporting was also outstanding.
The exchange did not establish total CIP revenue for the year, total expenditure from the fund or whether receipts were meeting budget expectations.
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua and Barbuda uses CIP receipts to fund government activities, PM says.