Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor Pleased With Stability Of EC Currency

ROSEAU, Dominica, March 7, 2020 (CMC) – The Governor of the St. Kitts and Nevis-based Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy Antoine, says the Eastern Caribbean dollar underscores the “remarkable” achievement of small island States, to survive in a changing global environment.

He said that, as of last Friday, the dollar, which trades at EC$0.37 cents to the United States dollar, “was one hundred percent backed”, adding “in layman’s term, that simply means for every EC dollar in circulation, there is one dollar in foreign exchange or foreign reserves”.

The EC dollar is used by the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat and Anguilla.

Antoine said that the stability of the EC currency is “impressive, notwithstanding the vagaries of the global economy, the ups and downs, the currency has been stable.

“That is a model of resilience, especially having regard for the fact that we are very small States. What we have been able to do, together as small states, in this regard, is nothing short of remarkable.

“It is a testimony of what we can do, when we come together, to work for common cause,” Antoine said.

Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says notwithstanding the improved economic growth performance and public debt reduction in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), the growth is expected to be “moderate, going forward”.

The Washington-based financial institution commended the ECCB for advancing essential regional financial sector reforms, and called for accelerating the progress to address financial system vulnerabilities, within a well-sequenced plan.

It also welcomed the pursuit for more financial innovation, recommending that the ECCB’s digital currency pilot project should proceed, with caution.