ECCB 2023-2024 Annual Report

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2023 -2024

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). This aims to strengthen data collection, quality, analysis, and reporting mechanisms to better understand and enhance the region’s trade dynamics, as it relates to Trade in Services statistics. Work will continue with the commercial banks to improve the data submitted on the Prudential Returns (PR) to the ECCB, namely, the PR11 and PR01. The Bank will also work with member countries to see the conclusion of the rebasing of the GDP in the ECCU and to produce technical notes on the data issues related to trade, visitor expenditure and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). On the strategic front, the Bank will collaborate to execute its research agenda with an emphasis on improving the statistics that are produced. ECCB B log and D igital D ialogues Following a short break due to the year-long schedule of activities in commemoration of its 40 th anniversary of service to the Region, the ECCB will resume its blog production in the 2024/2025 financial year. The focus of these blogs is to provide timely, impactful pieces that are consistent with relevant policy directions and to provide insights to the ECCU member countries. Additionally, the Bank will seek to re-establish its Digital Dialogue series in 2024/2025, to deliver high-level conversations on contemporary and relevant issues, pertinent to the currency union’s populace. E ngagement with S takeholders The Bank will persist in its quest to transform the region through collective action. It will continue to utilise its various platforms for

The Bank will also complete the testing of the Quarterly Statement of Capital, Income and Expenditure form (PR16), and incorporate its data reporting and management into the SAS software. Work will continue on the implementation of the IMF Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI) 2019 Guide, which is the new compilation framework for compilation of FSIs. The ECCB will continue development work related to the expansion of the monetary statistics to include data from other financial institutions (ECCB’s licensed non-bank financial institutions). This is aimed at enhancing the ECCB’s monitoring of the financial sector within its territories. The Bank will also enhance the Monetary Statistics to include data on the IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR), which is aimed at ensuring consistency with External Sector Statistics. The Bank will continue to expand the real and external sector statistics and national account databases through the compilation of the requisite historical statistics and forecasts, and through collaboration with the member countries. Work will also continue with the production and dissemination of the Business Outlook Surveys (BOSs) and data visualisation graphics to better inform policy makers and the public. Statistics development work will continue, to improve specific datasets such as the tourism and trade statistics, and prices and external sector statistics. The Bank will collaborate with the OECS Commission, CARICOM, and N ational A ccounts and E xternal S ector S tatistics

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