ECCB 2020-2021 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts

GROWTH, COMPETITIVENESS AND EMPLOYMENT

Economic statistics, which were a combination of actual data and ECCB estimates, were also disseminated via the ECCB website during the pandemic. Additionally, a project to transfer economic statistics to the ECCB SAS database continued through several iterations of development work and testing. Staff were deployed to focus on different aspects of this development work. Currently, only the monetary and financial statistics have been fully deployed to the ECCB SAS database. Consistent with its strategic goal of actively promoting the economic development of its member territories and staff, the Bank participated in the following training workshops along with the member countries: • International Trade Centre (ITC)/OECS Commission Virtual Meeting on Trade – 25 June 2020 • International Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities (ISIC) Online Training – 16 June to 21 July 2020 The ECCB also collaborated with regional partners, particularly the OECS Commission, CARTAC and Statistics Canada through the Project for the Regional Advancement of Statistics in the Caribbean (PRASC) on various statistics related initiatives and meetings. Renewable Energy Development Financing Initiative The ECCB engaged in discussions with The World Bank Group to explore alternative sources of financing to scale-up renewable energy development in the ECCU. The Bank is seeking to mobilise financing by crowding in private sector resources to address the region’s challenges with availability and access to finance for energy-related projects. Essentially, this initiative will help: 1. Identify approaches to make affordable financing available directly and enhance the bankability of renewable energy projects through risk mitigation instruments and capital market financing to realise the region’s enormous energy production potential for affordable, clean and resilient energy; and 2. Inform the development of de-risking mechanisms and regional financing arrangements for the renewable energy sector for the ECCU’s long-term sustainability and economic development, in support of the Bank’s foreign reserves management mandate. As part of the Bank’s initial engagements with The World Bank, a market sounding and barriers diagnostics assessment for renewable energy development and private sector investment readiness in the ECCU was initiated by The World Bank in March 2021.

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2020/2021 19