ECCB 2022-2023 Annual Report and Financial Statements

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Annual Report 2022 - 2023

Throughout the 2022-2023 financial year, the Bank acted on several fronts to maintain financial stability . While the economic environment has been challenging for the ECCU banking sector, the sector remained resilient and stable. The ECCB maintained vigilance in its surveillance and supervision of the banking sector by conducting a number of examinations. Simultaneously, the Bank developed and issued a slate of key new prudential standards. In parallel, the Bank advanced work to develop an Optimal Regulatory Framework, inclusive of preliminary work to inform the establishment of an Office of Financial Conduct. The ECCB also developed the first draft of a deposit insurance bill for comments. With the ever-present climate threat looming over the region, multiple streams of work are ongoing at the Bank to ensure a climate-resilient financial sector. The urgency of this work has not waned. In fact, with the May 2023 World Meteorological Organization Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update warning of the growing likelihood that the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold could be breached within half a decade, resilience-building efforts must be intensified. With respect to developing the financial sector, work progressed on building a modern credit ecosystem with the credit bureau now close to launch. Additionally, the Bank marked a momentous milestone with the 20 th anniversary of the Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM) in November 2022. The RGSM has been a stable and valuable source of financing for participating Member Governments in its 20-year history. Through the RGSM, member governments have raised about $18 billion. Efforts are underway to address existing barriers to access, as this is essential to the Bank’s goal of supporting wealth creation for the citizens and residents of the ECCU. During the financial year, the work on payments modernisation and financial inclusion included a Payment System Vision and Strategy for the ECCU, which was developed in partnership with the World

Bank. Another significant development under this strategic theme focused on inclusion of credit unions. Given the growing importance of the credit union sector within the ECCU financial space, the Bank set the framework to guide credit unions’ access to the Eastern Caribbean Automated Clearing House (ECACH). The Bank’s environmental, social and corporate governance strategic thrust brought us recognition this year in the form of two Central Banking awards. The first was the Green Initiative Award for the Bank’s Greening of the ECCB Campus Project. That project came to fruition in March 2023 when installation of battery storage was completed, meaning that the Bank is now virtually energy self-sufficient. The second award was for Communication Initiative, which recognised the Bank’s ECCB Connects podcast for its innovative programming. Recent leaps in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been making waves and portending seismic shifts in the labour market, the broader economy and society as a whole. The Bank sees opportunities to leverage such innovations to propel the region forward. Under the data and digital transformation theme, the Bank launched an AI Climate Resilience Data Challenge as part of the 6 th Growth and Resilience Dialogue with Social Partners held in April 2022. The Data Challenge was a project under the new ECCB Knowledge and Innovation Hub. As part of the efforts to support the development of 21 st century skills, particularly among the youth, the Hub commenced preparations to sponsor STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) youth summer camps in 2023. With the ever-present climate threat looming over the region, multiple streams of work are ongoing at the Bank to ensure a climate-resilient financial sector.

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