Residents of Antigua and Barbuda, as well as persons elsewhere will soon have an
opportunity to invest in the National Asset Management Company (NAMCO).
The revelation was made by Ambassador Lionel Max Hurst, the Chief of Staff in
the Office of the Prime Minister, on Thursday at the post-Cabinet press briefing.
This comes on the heels of discussions held during the recent Cabinet meeting,
where the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Timothy Antoine, who
is currently visiting Antigua, encouraged more residents to invest in financial
instruments.
Hurst said one reason why more people do not invest in stocks is because the
whole concept is quite new. He added that there are only two local companies that
are listed on the Eastern Caribbean Stock Exchange (ECSE).
“There are so few Antigua and Barbuda companies listed on the ECSE, only the
West Indies Oil Company and one other, that the government has decided that it
will also list NAMCO on the ECSE, to allow residents to purchase stocks and
share in the profits of the company,” he remarked.
Hurst expressed the view that the attitude of nationals towards investing in the
stock exchange, will itself change as more companies are listed. “It is new, the idea
that you take your money and rather than place it in a bank, you purchase shares in
these companies. By the way, banks are now becoming brokers as in the case when
WIOC made its share offering, it was a St. Lucia bank that served as the broker.
This, I’m sure will be corrected when more local companies are listed,” he
predicts.
The Chief of Staff opined that residents have not previously participated in the
stock exchange, based primarily on a lack of knowledge, rather than over fears of
losing their investments.
The Chief of Staff said the government will seek ways to encourage more residents
to invest in stocks and bonds by making it easier to invest in government bonds on
the stock exchange. He noted that these are mostly subscribed by large institutions.
In his presentation to Cabinet on Wednesday, Governor Antoine noted that while
60% of adults in the United States invest in financial instruments, only 4% of the
Antigua and Barbuda people invest in financial instruments.
Further, he explained that while savings in Antigua and Barbuda exceeded 2
Billion EC Dollars, bank interest rates are at 2%, which is lower than the rate of
inflation.
NAMCO is the ‘special purpose’ vehicle that the government uses to manage its
investments in the West Indies Oil Company, State Insurance Corporation, and
Blue Horizon, the dredging company.
