Dominica received the highest revenues from citizenship by investment (CBI) in the ECCU according to the latest report published by IMF
Dominica’s CBI scheme was founded in 1993 and provides two routes for individuals to acquire Dominican citizenship, since then the citizenship for sale scheme has accounted for 52% of GDP for Dominica and spurred construction of several five star tourism hotels
The CBI revenues for Dominica only picked up in 2013 after almost a decade of launching the investor citizenship scheme. The number of citizenship applications and real estate revenues peaked in 2018 according to the official report published by the government.
After suffering a catastrophic damage from Hurricane in 2017, the economy of Dominica plunged into negative GDP growth. Since 2108, with the help of CBI revenues Dominica was able to recover turning into positive GDP growth in 2018 and achieved highest GDP growth in 2018.
The revenues from CBI program were used in public welfare projects such as
- Construction of new homes
- Repairing bridges damaged by hurricanes
- Healthcare centers and hospitals
- Construction of new international airport
- National employment program
- Agriculture and fisheries sector support
- Approx One third of public expenditure spent on disaster reduction.
- Geothermal power
The CBI program makes a significant contribution to public sector expenditure, accounting for approximately 41.5% of total Government expenditure in 2018/19.
The Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) comprises six independent countries and two British Overseas Territories with a total population around 630,000. Its common currency has been pegged to the U.S. dollar since 1976.
ECCU member countries are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
