BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – POLICY teams from across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) will be going back to the drawing board to recalibrate the region’s coordinated response to the global economic crisis.
This Monday (Sep. 7), representatives from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and finance experts from the region and across the globe will engage in an intensive strategy-planning ‘Boot Camp’.
The ‘Boot Camp’ will be held at the ECCB Headquarters in St Kitts and is scheduled to run for seven days.
Participants will be given an opportunity to discuss and finalise the timing and strategy for the first five points of the ECCU eight point strategic policy response to the global financial crisis. These include financial programming, fiscal reform, debt management, public sector investment programmes and social protection programmes.
According to a September 4 press release issued by the central bank, the strategic meeting aims to “design and implement policies that would position the ECCU countries to better respond to the global economic and financial challenges”. In doing so, the boot camp should provide an enabling environment for investments and employment.
During the sessions, presentations will be made by representatives from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Caribbean Technical Assistance Centre, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The release states that at the end of the Boot Camp, it is expected that the ECCU member countries would have a “coherent and harmonised strategy” for the economic and financial stabilisation and adjustment of the ECCU.
