Basseterre. St. Kitts - The Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance is a policy research institution established by central banks of Caricom countries and the University of the West Indies, to undertake studies and provide information for monetary and financial policy issues for the region.
Its origins go back to the regional program of monetary studies, which was inaugurated in 1968. Recently the central banks of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles have joined the Centre, and other regional central banks and monetary authorities are eligible to join.
Over the past decade or more the Centre’s work, which originally focussed on monetary and fiscal policy, has expanded to include financial policies, and several financial institutions now contribute to the Centre’s budget.
A number of distinguished Caribbean scholars have coordinated the Regional Monetary Studies Programme or directed the work of the Centre.
They include former UWI Vice Chancellor Sir Alister McIntyre, Professor Clive Thomas of the University of Guyana, Professor Compton Bourne, the President of the Caribbean Development Bank, Professor Ramesh Ramsaran of the Institute for International Relations and Dr Shelton Nicholls, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Centre and its annual conferences have been a source of networking for economists and policy makers in the Caribbean, many of whom remain research associates, among them Sir Courtney Blackman, founding Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados. The CCMF’s network of associates reaches beyond the Caribbean, and includes economists working at the International Monetary Fund and universities in North America. ~~Adz:Right~~
The CCMF currently provides the following data, analysis and information via its website, www.ccmf-uwi.org:
- A monthly newsletter, published 8 times per year;
- Charts of regional comparative financial and economic data;
- A statistical portal, with descriptions of Caribbean data available online, and links to the data sources;
- Papers presented at annual monetary studies conferences, currently from 1992 to 2007, with earlier papers being added weekly;
- Articles published in the two most recent issues of the Journal of Banking Finance and Economics in Emerging Economies; and
- Texts of the Adlith Brown memorial lectures, 2006 and 2007.
Every year the CCMF organises the Caribbean monetary studies conference, as well as policy seminars on topics of current interest, attended by top executives in the financial sector. The most recent policy seminar, in May this year, dealt with the impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis on the Caribbean.
The monetary studies conference is the oldest and best established academic conference of economists in the Caribbean. Since its establishment in 1968 it has generated an impressive catalogue of economic research, much of it published as CCMS monographs, in special issues of Social and Economic Studies (the journal of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies), the Journal of Business, Finance and Economics in Emerging Economies and in other academic publications.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Economic transformation in a post-independent Caribbean” and presenters were encouraged to reflect on the contributions of Sir Arthur Lewis, the region’s Nobel laureate in economics. Presenters dealt with burning issues of the moment, such as banking and credit, bank regulation, financial stability and deposit insurance. Another topic of current interest was inflation, and the factors that are driving prices in the region. There were papers on factors affecting remittances by emigrants, and the economic impact of such remittances. Regional migration policy was also discussed. Other presentations dealt with the integration of financial markets across the region, and the integration of Caribbean financial markets with that of the US. There were also papers on policies for stimulating exports and export diversification, as well as presentations on external debt, foreign direct investment and the sustainability of the current account of the balance of payments.
A highlight of each year’s conference is the Adlith Brown memorial lecture, delivered this year by Professor Emeritus Vaughan Lewis of the University of the West Indies, former Prime Minister of St Lucia and founding Director General of the OECS. Professor Lewis offered a novel perspective on the “Changing contours of Caribbean regionalism”, arguing that the bargain that was made at Chaguaramas when the Caricom treaty was signed involved a regional industrialisation policy with a special regime for the LDC’s. However, because of the protracted contraction of their economies in the 1980s, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were unable to fulfill their aspirations to invest in more sophisticated industry, creating a market for light manufacturing from LDC’s. If progress is to be made with the implementation of the CSME, a new bargain must be struck, with specific benefits to motivate full and enthusiastic participation by OECS countries.
The CCMF is located on the St Augustine campus of the UWI. The staff comprises DeLisle Worrell (Executive Director), Dave Seerattan and Anthony Birchwood (Research Fellows), Julia Jhinkoo (Research Assistant) and support staff. Dr. Worrell is Professor of Economics at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, and former Senior Economist of the IMF. For further information and downloads of presentations from the current conference, visit our website, www.ccmf-uwi.org or contact us at:
Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance
The University of the West Indies
St. Augustine Campus
Trinidad and Tobago
Telephone: (868) 645-1174; (868) 645 1610
Fax: (868) 645-6017
E-mail: ccmf@sta.uwi.edu
