ECCB 2023-2024 Annual Report

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2023 - 2024

Growth in the ECCU was estimated at 4.5 per cent, amidst surprisingly buoyant global growth of 3.2 per cent in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook (IMF WEO) April 2024. The ECCU’s economic performance was led by strong tourism activity across member countries. Consumers received some reprieve as inflation rates moderated and member governments continued to improve balance sheets, influenced by strong revenue growth.

of the Bank’s inaugural Financial Inclusion and Literacy Survey were launched and showed that there is considerable work to be done in the region. Importantly, the financial inclusion thrust in 2024-2025 will prioritise easing the opening of bank accounts. Under the Bank’s strategic focus of data and digital transformation, we procured the requisite tools to enhance data analytics capabilities for staff. For 2024-2025, project BOOST (which stands for Build On Opportunities for Sustained

Transformation) is the top internal priority. It seeks to deliver a new Enterprise Resource Planning system to transform our internal operations.

The Bank will continue to challenge the ECCU on The Big Push: to implement innovative initiatives that fundamentally transform the economies and enhance the lives of citizens over the next 10 years.

In our pledge to service excellence, there was continued investment to improve organisational effectiveness. The new ECCB website was unveiled in July 2023. There was also continued support for the Bank’s most important resource – its staff. In that regard, several human resource-related policies were issued. In the new financial year, work will continue on further strengthening our risk management framework and business continuity management. The 2024 outlook for global growth remains historically weak at 3.2 per cent, according to the IMF WEO April 2024. The delicate easing of monetary policy; uncertain geo-political outcomes owing to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East; and an unprecedented number of elections in key global economies are dampening expectations. Artificial intelligence gives hope for boosting productivity in financial and labour

Firmly committed to monetary stability, the ECCB capped off the year with a strong reserve backing of 95.0 per cent. In safeguarding financial stability, several initiatives were undertaken to strengthen the regulatory environment and to mitigate emerging risks, including drafting new financial stability legislation. The long-awaited credit bureau is on the cusp of being launched. Work advances on a Regional Standards Setting Body for the regulation of the non-bank financial sector and for the establishment of an Office of Financial Conduct to address financial market conduct. Efforts continued to modernise the payment system with work focused on developing an instant payment system (IPS), DCash 2.0 and the on-boarding of non-bank licensed entities to the Automated Clearing House. The results

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