The Grenada government has earned nearly half a billion dollars (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) from the Citizenship by Investment programme (CBI) after the country approved 4861 new citizens for the period January to September this year.
Under the CBI programme, foreign investors are provided with citizenship in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of the country.
The 2024 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure projected that for the period January to December, the revenue from the CBI had been put at EC$280.6 million but data in the August fiscal report shows that the government’s revenue for the period January to August was EC$372.2 million.
However, based on the latest data, which was released on Friday, the government’s revenue from the programme for the period July to September was EC$202,394,508.11 with September earnings alone estimated at EC$76,845,490.05.
As a result, the total revenue for the year so far stands at approximately EC$448.2 million exclusive of October earnings.
One local agent said that the government’s revenue actually crossed EC$500 million in October but that the data will be publicly released in the final quarter of 2024.
During the period July to September, Nigerians and Chinese nationals represented 48.2 per cent of those granted citizenship through the programme which is managed by the Investment Migration Agency (IMA).
Data released on the IMA website shows that a total of 1827 people were granted citizenship while 44 were denied.
Nigerians according to the data represented 23.8 per cent or 435 people while Chinese nationals represented 24.4 per cent or 445 people were granted citizenship.
The other nationalities receiving approval were 90 from the United States and 108 from Ukraine. Nationals from Vietnam, Syria, Armenia, Turkey, India, Lebanon, Iraq and South Africa also received citizenship.
ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Nov 1, CMC
CMC/ls/ir/2024
