ECCB 2015/2016 Annual Report

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK

In addition, technical assistance is provided to member governments in their preparations for missions of international organisations, for example, the IMF and IBRD (The World Bank), and through prepared policy papers relating to fiscal and debt stabilisation issues in member territories. The Bank continued to fulfill its economic surveillance mandate through the preparation and publication of three quarterly and an annual economic and financial review for 2015. In addition, the Bank was significantly involved in a mission to the Commonwealth of Dominica during the period 30 September 2015 to 7 October 2015, in response to a request by the authorities following the passage of tropical storm Erika. Assistance was provided in examining the impact of the storm on the government’s finances and revising the forecast for the medium term as a result of the storm. The Bank has remained engaged in this process. Three officers represented the Bank at the Development Partners’ Conference for Dominica which was held on 16 November 2015 to inform the donor community of the government’s continued efforts at recovery and areas of need. Economists from the Research Depatment also participated in the IMF’s Article IV consultations to Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines and the IMF Fourth Review of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Article IV Consultation to Grenada. The Bank also participated in the second meeting of the OECS Economic Affairs Council held in June 2015 and the second IFC Workshop on Tax Expenditure Analysis held in September 2015. Other notable accomplishments included: participation in the 62 nd meeting of the OECS Authority; ECCU Fiscal Framework Boot Camp sponsored by the

CARTAC, where the main objectives were to expedite the implementation of the Monetary Council’s decision in an effort to facilitate the continued balanced growth and development of all the member territories and to develop capacity within the member countries in order to have suitably adapted financial programmes for fiscal stability; and familiarisation missions to Montserrat and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Further technical assistance was provided to all member countries through various networking meetings, seminars and conferences.

I nformaton S torage and D issemination Statistics Commercial Banks’ Prudential Returns

The ECCB incorporated the recommendations from the monetary and financial statistics (MFS) technical assistance mission conducted by the IMF’s Statistics Department on the revised prudential returns. However, the date for implementation of the revised prudential returns has been further deferred to 2017 to ensure that requirements based on the New Banking Act and the implementation of the BASEL II capital adequacy framework are incorporated. External Sector Statistics Compiled Using the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics, Sixth Edition (IMF BPM6) The Bank launched the revised Balance of Payments (BOP) survey instruments and completed the Excel- based medium used for compilation of the statistics. The exercise allowed BOP compilers to make necessary methodological changes and revisions aimed at improving external sector statistics in the ECCU.

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ECCB A nnual R eport 2015/2016