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East Caribbean states working towards greater economic integration
Sir Dwight Venner, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. PHOTO/File
(Jamaica Observer) – Deeper economic union is at the centre of the Eastern Caribbean’s attempts to build a platform for sustainable growth, the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) said last week.
But others may need to take a different path, warned Sir Dwight Venner. “Each country and region must establish its own trajectory on the way to accelerated growth.”
The Eastern Caribbean is conducting “an experiment of great importance to the region,” he said, according to a transcript of his speech to Sterling Asset Management’s 10th anniversary celebrations at Hope Gardens, Kingston – Jamaica.
The Revised Treaty of Basseterre, which came into being on January 21, 2011, provides for full economic union and creates the framework for a single financial and economic space, he said.
“The movement towards consolidation of the major institutions such as banks and insurance companies should lead to a more efficient and cost-effective financial system.”
The Eastern Caribbean also responded to the recent global crisis with an eight-point stabilization and growth programme, he said.
The islands began their union in 1981 with the original Treaty of Basseterre, which centralized the judiciary, central banking, civil aviation and telecommunications regulation as well as banking and securities regulation.
