BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - FOLLOWING the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there has been talk about possibly replacing the existing EC notes with the face of King Charles lll.
But the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Timothy Antoine, is brushing off any discussion surrounding replacing the notes, especially now that they have more in-house to be circulated.
Only several years ago the Financial Regulator had changed the notes and is still in the process of circulating some of what are in-house.
During his appearance on the ‘Conversation with the Governor’, a stopover in St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Antoine reminded that despite the Queen being prominent on many of the notes, there are some regional leaders being featured as well.
He explained too that the bank has “three to four years of inventory or stock of these notes”, noting that they do plan to utilize all of them at this point.
“So, you will see no change in respect of your notes and coins for the time being. Absolutely no Change,” he emphasized.
Replacement of the previous notes had cost the bank a hefty figure and they are in no immediate rush to make the switch.
“We spent money on those and we are certainly not throwing those away. Nothing will change where that is concerned. Let’s be honest. I mean, we have great leaders like Sir Arthur Lewis and Sir Dwight K. Venner who are on our currency. They’ve passed, but their legacy lives on,” added Antoine.
Even as that suggestion continues, another is rising to force the bank to not consider replacing the notes at this time, as territories are in talks about moving away from the monarchy and that, in and of itself, means replacing the notes again.
“I can tell you there are a lot of people who feel it’s time for us to move into a different direction and that, rather than continuing with the British Sovereign, we should be using our own landmarks and our heroes and that sort of thing,” the Governor reminded.
