420 businesses closed
St. Vincent and the Grenadines was not spared a trail of business closures.
While there has been ongoing reference to and speculation about the number of businesses here that have closed because of the economic/commercial downturn occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure has now been given some meaning.
Responding to a question tabled by Fitzgerald Bramble, Member of Parliament for East Kingstown, Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves told a sitting of Parliament on Tuesday 29th January, that that figure was 420, representing a wide variety of sectors of the economy.
The closure of 420 businesses had accounted for 2,754 being displaced to the breadline, the Minister added.