Saint Lucia authorises use of reserves to assist sister OECS territories
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Contact: Shannon Lebourne
Friday 15 October 2010 – Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Honourable Stephenson King has granted authorisation to the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to utilise part of Saint Lucia`s reserves at the bank, on behalf of three OECS member states to facilitate payment of their recurring expenditure.
Speaking recently to Saint Lucians living in New York Prime Minister King indicated the granting of the authorisation was only possible because of Saint Lucia’s strong fiscal position within the Caribbean, spurred on by his government`s prudent management of the economy.
“We have been able as a government and as a country to maintain ourselves despite the numerous challenges. There are countries in the Eastern Caribbean that are going through tremendous challenges since the collapse of CLICO and the British American Insurance Company when the assessments were done it in terms of the ability of the respective countries to respond to the commitments of these insurance companies. Saint Lucia on both occasions came out as being in a better position to respond to the commitments.” “Currently, there are countries in the Eastern Caribbean that on a month-to-month basis are unable to pay the public officers on time. On three occasions the Central Bank approached the government of Saint Lucia to utilize Saint Lucia’s reserves at the bank to lend to the countries in question.”
Prime Minister King further explained that the decision to lend such assistance was based on government’s commitment to the OECS Economic Union and the movement towards the creation of a single financial space within the region.
The demise of any OECS country, the prime minister explained, would have serious repercussions not only for the EC dollar but for every member state of the OECS union.
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