27 / 174
13
ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2016/2017
During the year, the Bank fulfiled its surveillance
mandate through the following:
•
•
Weekly
Country
Surveillance
Reports:
The reports provided a high frequency of
information on member countries under
three broad thematic areas: macro-economic
developments, financial developments and
socio-political developments.
•
•
Quarterly Economic and Financial Review
(QEFR) and the Annual Economic and Financial
Review (AEFR)
: The reports provided a
historical analysis of developments over the
prescribed period.
•
•
Annual Joint Financial Programming and Debt
Sustainability Analysis (FP/DSA) Reports:
This report was more diagnostic in nature,
integrating the use of Financial Programming
and Debt Sustainability Tool Kits to assess
macroeconomic imbalances in member
countries, relating to fiscal and debt. The report
also made policy recommendations to correct
those imbalances.
•
•
Policy Briefs/Sector Specialisation Papers:
The
papers covered current and topical policy issues
and sector specific developments in member
countries.
•
•
Research Papers:
These papers addressed
specific policy issues in keeping with the Bank’s
strategic policy themes.
The Bank remained engaged in the implementation
of the “Home-grown Adjustment Programme”
in Grenada through representation on Grenada’s
National Monitoring Committee and participation
in the official reviews conducted by the IMF. The
Bank also participated in the IMF staff visits and
Article IV consultations to Antigua and Barbuda, the
Commonwealth of Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, St
Vincent and theGrenadines and Saint Lucia. During the
review period, the Bank partnered with the Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB) in a joint diagnostic mission
to Saint Lucia. Further technical assistance was
provided to all member countries through various
networking meetings, seminars and conferences.
Staff of the Research Department benefitted from
several training opportunities which helped to
strengthen the macroeconomic surveillance function.
The Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre
(CARTAC), the International Finance Corporation (IFC),
and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
(OECS) facilitated the training which included:
1. Revenue Forecasting and Tax Policy Analysis
Workshop, Barbados: 9 – 13 May 2016;
2. Energy Forum, St Kitts and Nevis: 10 – 12 May
2016, and
3. IFC Tax Incentive Workshop, Saint Lucia: 17 – 20
May 2016.
THE BASIS OF POLICY
Research
The Bank’s research programme focused on three
primary policy areas namely:
1. Financial Stability
2. Fiscal and Debt Sustainability
3. Growth, Competitiveness and Employment
The following papers were initiated or completed
during the period to inform the policy discussion
by management, the Board of Directors, and the
Monetary Council:
a. Determinants of Credit-less Recoveries in the
Eastern Caribbean Currency Union;
b. An Unlikely Transmission? The Links Between