The American Samoa Governor, Togiola Tulafono, is banking that the estimated more than 130 million US dollars in federal stimulus money will spark the local economy because the territory is facing economic turmoil.
At the end of this month one of the two tuna canneries is shutting its doors, laying off more than 2,000 workers, and taking twenty million US dollars out of the local economy.
In his budget speech to the territorial Legislature, the governor said that American Samoa is expecting to receive 136 point four million US dollars in stimulus money.
Togiola says the plan is to accelerate the spending of these revenues to stimulate economic activity, with the expectation that new jobs will be created.
