ECCB 2022-2023 Annual Report and Financial Statements

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Annual Report 2022 - 2023

to foster the development and implementation of key risk indicators across the Bank, based on international standards and best practice, which would in turn improve risk oversight, and strengthen the Bank’s risk management practices. Internal Audit Function During the financial year, the Bank undertook two major audits geared at increasing its operating effectiveness and development. The Disaster Recovery Business Continuity (DRBC) is critical to ensuring that the Bank builds into its processes, the ability to quickly restore its operations in the event of a disaster or service interruption. The audit focused on an assessment of the supporting processes underpinning the DRBC framework. The specific objectives were: z Determine whether a DRBC project plan was developed to adequately meet the Bank’s needs and milestones for implementation; z Assess the Bank’s current level of preparedness for disruptive events and continuity of critical business functions; z Determine whether current Business Continuity Management Plans conform to recommended/ industry best practices; and z Determine whether the draft Business Continuity Plan is aligned with the Bank’s 2022 2026 strategic objectives. This is a critical area for the organisation as it serves eight member countries and a disaster impacting any of the countries should not have an adverse impact on the stakeholders in the other countries as the Bank would still be required to continue its operations. Underpinning everything that the Bank does is its staff, whether examining technology driven processes, or human enabled operations. Consequently, the Bank must ensure not only that it has the right staff in the right positions, but also that its staff are adequately

trained to keep pace with the advancement in best practices across the industries of its core businesses.

The Training and Staff Development and Performance Management review focused on assessing the Human Resource Department’s alignment with the Bank’s strategic and business objectives. The specific objectives were as follows: ; Evaluate whether the department’s training and staff development policies and processes were effective and aligned with the Bank’s strategic objectives and direction; ; Determine whether the Bank had adopted best practices in relation to training and staff development; and ; Determine the effectiveness of the performance management programme and system. Currency Management As at 31 March 2023, the value of currency in circulation continued to trend upwards, increasing to $1,491.60 million. Banknotes accounted for $1,360.92 million or 91.24 per cent, coins in circulation amounted to $128.23 million or 8.60 per cent and digital currency (DXCD) in circulation amounted to $2.45 million or 0.16 per cent. The aggregate currency in circulation at the end of the financial year reflected an increase of $84.46 million (6.00 per cent) above the total in the previous financial year. During the period, the Bank continued its focus on the management and issuance of all polymer banknotes denominations. The robust polymer substrate continues to improve the average lifespans and improve the durability of the issued banknotes. The effectiveness of various anti-counterfeit features is evidenced by the very low rates of counterfeit notes detected. Despite the low incidence of counterfeiting, the Bank has continued to be pro-active in its approach to mitigate the threat of counterfeiting. The Bank’s long-running Know Your Money training programme

44