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Contact:
Office of the Prime Minister
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 – Prime Minister Honourable Stephenson King
returned to the island over the weekend after attending the 63rd Meeting of the
Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Finance Ministers of the OECS who make up the Monetary Council received a report
from the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Sir Dwight
Venner and deliberated on policy issues raised in the report as well as a number
of related matters which can impact on the Central Bank’s monetary and credit
policy and on the overall growth and development of member countries.
The Monetary Council noted that commercial bank liquidity in the ECCU remained
at “an adequate level” and that Central Bank foreign reserves continued to
increase buoyed by increases in foreign direct investment flows. The Council
agreed that there should be no changes to the Central Bank’s administered rates.
The Council also noted that while deposits at the bank expanded by 6.3 percent
during the twelve month period ending in July of this year this was at a slower
pace compared to the previous year.
The OECS Finance Ministers were of the view that the Credit Market in the ECCU
continued to show “fairly robust activity” even in the face of tighter lending
terms and conditions for all categories of loans.
The OECS Finance Ministers also made recommendations for the effective
surveillance of the financial sector including the passage of the Payment
Systems Act and the completion and implementation of the Single Regulatory Units
in member states by December of this year.
The Council also noted that the recent developments in the global economy
remains a threat to global growth and the outlook for the rest of 2008 is for
slower economic growth in the economies of members states of the ECCU.
The Council of Ministers recommended that in view of the potential negative
effect of the global financial situation an additional forum should be arranged
where the Monetary Council and the OECS Authority could jointly discuss and
agree on coordinated policy responses to deal with the evolving situation.
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