ECCB 2020-2021 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts

MONETARY STABILITY

In April 2020, the Council approved a temporary reduction in the Discount Rate to 2.0 per cent from 6.5 per cent as a means of providing low cost short-term credit to member governments, as per section 32 of the ECCB Agreement 1983. That was followed by a reduction in long-term credit from 6.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent in February 2021. The Minimum Savings Deposit Rate of 2.0 per cent was maintained during the year and the currency peg remained backed by a high level of foreign reserves.

Plan to Maintain a Strong and Stable EC Dollar The External Sector Statistics (ESS) work programme in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) was affected by the institutional and structural changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Member countries and the ECCB had to adjust their work programmes as we maneuvered through a series of lockdowns, displacements and the move to the virtual environment for many public and private sector enterprises. Consequently, the detailed compilation of the ECCU ESS was delayed during the financial year. In its stead, estimates were prepared for the member countries for the period 2019 to 2021 and disseminated via the ECCB website on 31 March 2021. In preparation for the dissemination of the data, the estimates were reviewed by the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) External Sector Statistics Adviser.

Staff participated in two (2) External Sector Statistics workshops organized by CARTAC during the financial year: ƒ Virtual Regional Workshop on External Sector Statistics during the COVD-19 Pandemic: 2 to 4 November 2020 ƒ Virtual Regional Workshop on Cross-border Statistics on Special Purpose Entities (SPEs): 8 to 10 December 2020

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2020/2021 4