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EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK
1
ECCB A
nnual
R
eport
2015/2016
1
F
oreword
A New Vision for a New Era: 2016 - 2020 and Beyond
On 1 February 2016, I assumed office as the Governor
of the ECCB, succeeding the Honourable Sir K Dwight
Venner who was at the helm of ECCB for 26 years.
Sir Dwight’s contribution to the ECCB and our region
is colossal and his legacy is secure.
It is my high honour and distinct privilege to serve the
people of our region as Governor of the ECCB. The
ECCB has made, and is now being positioned to make
an even bigger contribution to the Currency Union
through the pursuit of our purposes under Article 4 of
the ECCB Agreement Act (1983):
a. to regulate the availability of money and credit;
b. to promote and maintain monetary stability;
c. to promote credit and exchange conditions
and a sound financial structure conducive to
the balanced growth and development of the
economies of the territories of the Participating
Governments; and
d. to actively promote through means consistent
with its objectives the economic development of
the territories of the Participating Governments.
The financial year 2015/2016 could be considered
a turning point in the history of the ECCB and its
member countries. The international economy was
recovering from the financial and economic crisis and
recorded growth of 3.1 per cent in 2015. The member
countries of the ECCB were gradually emerging from
the crisis and GDP growth slowly improved from 1.6
per cent in 2013 to an average of 2.7 per cent in 2014
and 2015. At the same time, the debt to GDP ratio of
ECCB member governments decreased from 81.7 per
cent in 2014 to 76.0 per cent in 2015 and the financial
stability indicators such as liquidity, capital adequacy
and profitability began to improve.
I
t is my high honour and distinct
privilege to serve the people
of our region as Governor of the
ECCB.