The EC dollar remains strong, that is according to Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy N. J. Antoine in his reflection on the work of the ECCB and regional developments for the Financial Year ended 31 March 2023.
The Governor highlighted the continued strength and resilience of the EC Dollar as one of the ECCB’s key achievements of the 2022-2023 financial year.
He pointed out that “Resilience is the capacity to absorb shocks and to bounce forward, not back,” Governor Antoine said “Every shock should be leveraged to derive positive legacies.”
The Bank maintained foreign reserves of over 90 percent at the end of the financial year ended March 31, 2023, well above the 60.0 per cent statutory requirement.
The Governor said that the Bank’s high levels of reserves had proven to be very useful, particularly during shocks such as the pandemic.
Another key highlight was the strong recovery of the ECCU economies. He said that region-wide, the post-pandemic recovery is now well entrenched, with a projected growth rate of 5.0 per cent in 2023.
That recovery propelled by a strong rebound of the tourism sector is likely to result in most of the ECCU economies returning to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year or by next year.
SOURCE: Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
Great! I hope,EC dollars appreciate to 1.8 or at least 2EC dollars to a dollar 💰 soonest.
Please can you state WHY no banks in ENGLAND are changing Sterling to EC DOLLARS?? Cannot obtain ECD!! Extremely difficult to acquire?
@ if there are a desire to exchange the Sterling to ec then I would suggest you open a cambio. Foreign exchange business. Legally iE
With his recent unsubstantiated pronouncements regarding the performance of the ECCB, there is increasing speculation that the Economic Department of the university he attended, did not confer a degree on Antoine. It is thought that it was the Meteorological Department which gave him his degree, based on the result of an exam which revealed that his body temperature was normal at the time!
It is evident that Antoine is just parroting the talking points of western economists which have no relation to the realities of the day. Those countries which are smart enough to eschew vassalage to the US empire, and are putting the welfare of their citizens first, are lining up to apply for entry into the BRICS-led economic entities, so they can divorce their economic existences from western predatory capitalism, which seeks to control their resources & economic activity for the sole benefit of western corporations & oligarchs.
The OECS should get rid of this clown, tout de suite! But that is highly unlikely, given that the political class which governs the various territories are only concerned with filling their pockets, instead of initiating programs that will positively impact the lives of their citizens.
In order for citizens to take back control of their countries (if they believe in democracy), they should educate themselves on electing suitable stewards to manage their economic affairs. Here is a 12-part video series which brings ordinary citizens up-to-date on the economic issues of the day, and which will provide them with valid yardsticks by which to measure candidates who would deliver progressive economic outcomes for them:
Geopolitical Economy Report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uxyjIFqi4o&list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP
@ Nudge, I am in agreement with your sober analysis. It’s called ECCB, but it only encourages belt-tightening and economic austerity. Has is ever called for quantitative easing when the economy is doing poorly? Has it ever addressed inflation and possible method to elevate the high cost of living? It operates as an investment bank for the wealthy elites rather than a central bank. Its economic principles are modeled after antiquated classical economic theories. What is their bold vision for the future? I don’t think they have one because they still live in the 1800s.
@Ras Biko,
You had me until the first “but”:
Your comments expose you as a member of the PMC – Professional Management Class – trained to keep the hoi polloi controlled by asserting that their failure to succeed in the capitalist system is self-inflicted. Did you have a chance to view the 12-part video series I cited? Let’s analyze each of your sentences above:
“…encourages belt-tightening and economic austerity”
Duh! It’s what a central bank does: Squeeze the 99%, so the 1% elites can live freely, without constraint.
“…ever called for quantitative easing…”
The ECCB is not autonomous, and can never initiate Quantitative Easing! It is just an off-shore annex of western central banks, used to keep former colonies forever sucking on the teats of their masters of yore. Besides, Quantitative Easing can best be described as the elites pissing in their vassals’ eyes, and calling it rain. It is a device for printing worthless money to give the illusion of economic stability, to hide the fact that western capitalism is inherently unstable, and routinely devolves into crisis, every 7 to 10 years.
“…an investment bank…rather than a central bank”
All central banks (they all are privately held entities) were created to be banks for wealthy elites, who use the veneer (look up the word) of governmental control to hide their economic activities from the prying eyes of ordinary world citizens (very much like the Vatican Bank).
“economic principles…antiquated classical economic theories”
Here is where you reveal how your formal (or informal) training has locked you into arguing the case for academic, impractical THEORIES (nails, meet hammer). The ECCB is straight-up gangster; there is no principle or honor in thieves!
“What is their bold vision for the future?”
Simple…to be a vassal of the US Empire in its quest for full spectrum dominance over the lives of everyone on the globe; while it reprises the power of the British Empire in the 1800s; and hopes to accomplish Mackinder’s wet dream of conquering the untapped resources of Russia (the invasions by Napoleon & Hitler, financed by western banks, were violently repelled; at the cost of 40 million Russian lives). Now you know what the Ukraine gambit by NATO is all about!
It should be noted that the collective west has been in a panic mode over the last 2 months, because of the positive response, by the rest of the world, to China’s de-dollarization initiatives: They have been sending their economic envoys on groveling missions, which have failed miserably!