BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DESPITE the prevailing signs of a deepened recession, the nation’s trust in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union’s (ECCU) Strategic Planning remains strong. And in a move to pledge his government’s unwavering support, the Federation’s Finance Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris has applauded the Union for its “critical” and “timely” responses.
Following a May 19 Special Meeting of the Monetary Council, finance ministers of the region unanimously agreed to pursue an eight-point Stabilisation and Growth Programme to minimise negative spinoffs while at the same time, prepare the region for an impending upturn.
Minister Harris praised the stabilisation programme and indicated that his ministry intends to work within its recommended guidelines in order to deflect the adverse effects of the global economic crisis.
The stabilisation programme outlines suitably adapted financial programmes, fiscal reform programmes and debt management programmes for each country. It also addresses the need for public sector investment programmes, social safety net programmes and financial safety net programmes in the context of the foregoing threats and challenges. Other focal areas include the amalgamation of indigenous commercial banks and the rationalisation, development and regulation of the insurance sector.
Harris said the stabilisation programme is “critical” as he outlined a number of challenges facing the region, including the recent collapse of Bank of Antigua, CLICO and British American and the looming threat of a crack down on tax havens and offshore financial centres by OECD countries.
“We had no difficulty with the recommendations because they are in sync with the policy programmes that our administration has been pursuing. These policy programmes are a part of a critical strategy response to global economic crisis and our efforts to bring our debt to more sustainable levels” Harris noted.
Given the magnitude of challenges which the ECCU now faces, according to Harris, the initiatives pursued at both the national and sub-regional levels are a “critical lynchpin” in reconciling regional responses in a “timely and self-reinforcing way.”
