Montserrat’s leader of government business, Premier, the Honourable Reuben T. Meade has been explaining the significance of the recent “pause” in graduation secured recently by Montserrat at the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in London.
The UK Government confirmed that, “in partnership with Montserrat,” it successfully secured a halt to the island’s removal from Official Development Assistance (ODA) status pending a wider review of graduation criteria.
Premier Meade stated that his administration has been working continuously with the British government not to be graduated.
This pause is said to protect Montserrat’s access to critical development funding at a time when global inflation, loss of EU development support, and infrastructure gaps place the island at a disadvantage.
Premier Meade shares the significance of the recent development, including the timeline for budgetary allocation.
Premier Meade, however stated also that all of the projects that had a timeline ending on March 31st next year are still in effect.