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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Mar 09 2016 – The Governor and other officials of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) met with representatives from The World Bank this week to discuss a technical assistance project, “Diversifying the Financial System in the ECCU”, which is being funded by the Financial Sector Reform and Strengthening Initiative (FIRST).
The objective of the FIRST Project is to support the development and adoption of a strategy and implementation plan for a more diversified financial system that can better serve the needs of the economy and facilitate improved economic growth characterised by business expansion, job creation and industry and export expansion. The project is a critical component of the ECCB’s efforts to promote the further development and strengthening of the financial system to drive economic transformation in the region.
In his meeting with the team, Governor Antoine welcomed the FIRST initiative to build on the past efforts of the ECCB in developing Money and Capital Markets in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). He noted that the financial sector must play a critical role in addressing the socioeconomic challenges being experienced by the ECCU countries. He further noted the criticality of economic transformation in reversing the trend of high unemployment, particularly among the youth who make up the single largest component of the population in the ECCU.
