Eastern Caribbean Central Bank REPORT AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS For the Financial Year Ended 31 March 2008 Eastern Caribbean Central Bank P.O. Box 89, Basseterre, St Kitts, West Indies 2 June 2008 Sirs In accordance with Article 48(1) of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement 1983, I have the honour to transmit herewith the Bank’s Annual Report for the period ended 31 March 2008 and a Statement of the Bank’s accounts as at that date duly certified by the Auditors. I am, Your Obedient Servant K Dwight Venner, KBE GOVERNOR The Honourable Osbourne Fleming Dr The Honourable Lowell Lewis Chief Minister Chief Minister ANGUILLA MONTSERRAT The Honourable Baldwin Spencer Dr The Honourable Denzil Douglas Prime Minister Prime Minister ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA ST KITTS AND NEVIS The Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit The Honourable Stephenson King Prime Minister Prime Minister COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA SAINT LUCIA Dr The Right Honourable Keith Mitchell Dr The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves Prime Minister Prime Minister GRENADA ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES Tel: (869) 465-2537 · Fax: (869) 465-9562/1051 E-mail: [email protected] · Website: www.eccb-centralbank.org SWIFT: ECCBKN ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 i Eastern Caribbean Central Bank MONETARY COUNCIL as at 31 March, 2008 The Hon Victor F Banks Chairman (July 2007 - July 2008) Dr The Hon Errol Cort Anguilla The Hon Roosevelt Skerrit Antigua and Barbuda Commonwealth of Dominica Dr The Right Hon Keith Mitchell Dr The Hon Lowell Lewis Grenada Montserrat Dr The Hon Denzil L Douglas The Hon Stephenson King Dr The Hon Ralph Gonsalves St Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia St Vincent and the Grenadines iv ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 Eastern Caribbean Central Bank BOARD OF DIRECTORS as at 31 March, 2008 K Dwight Venner, KBE Chairman Carl Harrigan Trevor Brathwaite Anguilla Deputy Governor Rosamund Edwards Commonwealth of Dominica Whitfield Harris Jr Timothy Antoine Antigua and Barbuda Grenada H.E. Wendell Lawrence St Kitts and Nevis Vincent Placide Isaac Anthony Montserrat Saint Lucia Maurice Edwards St Vincent and the Grenadines ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 v Eastern Caribbean Central Bank CORPORATE INFORMATION As at 31 March, 2008 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Sir K Dwight Venner Governor Mr Trevor Brathwaite Deputy Governor Mrs Jennifer Nero Managing Director Mrs L Mignon Wade Counsellor, with responsibility for Economic Policy Coordination MANAGEMENT Governor’s Immediate Office Ms Elizabeth Tempro Adviser II Ms Maria Barthelmy Adviser I Accounting Department (AD) Ms Raquel Huggins Director Ms Sharmyn Powell Deputy Director Mrs Yvonne Jean-Smith Deputy Director Banking and Monetary Mr Henry Hazel Director Operations Department Mrs Jacqueline Lawrence Deputy Director (BMOD) Mrs Patricia Welsh-Haynes Deputy Director Mrs Peaches Nicholls Adviser I Bank Supervision Mr Everette Martin Director Department (BSD) Mr Kennedy Byron Deputy Director Mrs Allison Crossman Deputy Director Mrs Sharon Welcome Deputy Director Corporate Relations Ms Ingrid Shortte Director Department (CRD) Ms Sybil Welsh Deputy Director Currency Management Mr Hudson Carr Director Department (CMD) Mrs Marilla Jarvis Deputy Director Financial and Enterprise Mr Denzil James Director Development Department Mr Daniel Arthurton Deputy Director (FEDD) Mr John Venner Adviser II Human Resource Department Ms Brontie Duncan Director (HRD) Ms Lilian Polydore Deputy Director Internal Audit Department Mr James Simpson Director (IAD) Mr Lincoln Gilbert Deputy Director Legal Services Ms Esco Henry Legal Adviser Management Information Mr Wayne Myers Director Systems Department (MISD) Mr Humphrey Magloire Deputy Director vi ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 Eastern Caribbean Central Bank CORPORATE INFORMATION As at 31 March, 2008 Research Department (RD) Dr Garth Nicholls Director Ms Leah Sahely Deputy Director Mrs Térèsa Smith Deputy Director Mrs Sheila Williams Adviser II Mr Peter Adrien Adviser II Statistics Department Ms Laurel Bain Director (SD) Ms Karen Williams Deputy Director Mr Carl Greaux Deputy Director Mrs Hazel Corbin Deputy Director Support Services Management Mrs Pamella Osborne Director Department (SSMD) Ms Adriana Carter Deputy Director Mr Peter Douglas Deputy Director Mrs Beverly Edwards-Gumbs Deputy Director ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 vii Eastern Caribbean Central Bank CORPORATE INFORMATION As at 31 March, 2008 RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVES Ms Marilyn Bartlett-Richardson Mr Charles T John ECCB Agency Office ECCB Agency Office P O Box 1385 P O Box 484 Fairplay Commercial Complex 2 Farara Plaza The Valley Brades ANGUILLA MONTSERRAT Telephone: 264 497 5050 Telephone: 664 491 6877 Facsimile: 264 497 5150 Facsimile: 664 491 6878 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Mr Albert Lockhart Mr Gregor Franklyn ECCB Agency Office ECCB Agency Office P O Box 741 P O Box 295 Sagicor Financial Centre Unit 5, Colony House Factory Road John Compton Highway St John’s Castries ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA SAINT LUCIA Telephone: 268 462 2489 Telephone: 758 452 7449 Facsimile: 268 462 2490 Facsimile: 758 453 6022 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Mr Edmund Robinson Ms Elritha Dick ECCB Agency Office ECCB Agency Office P O Box 23 P O Box 839 3rd Floor Financial Centre Frenches House, Frenches Kennedy Avenue Kingstown Roseau ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA Telephone: 784 456 1413 Telephone: 767 448 8001 Facsimile: 784 456 1412 Facsimile: 767 448 8002 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Mrs Linda Felix-Berkeley ECCB Agency Office Monckton Street St George’s GRENADA Telephone: 473 440 3016 Facsimile: 473 440 6721 E-mail: [email protected] viii ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 ORGANISATIONAL CHART ix Eastern Caribbean Central Bank CONTENTS PAGE LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL i MISSION STATEMENT ii VISION STATEMENT iii MONETARY COUNCIL iv BOARD OF DIRECTORS v CORPORATE INFORMATION vi GOVERNOR’S FOREWORD 1 REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE 4 MAJOR ACTIVITIES IN THE YEAR AHEAD 16 THE ECCB’S CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK 19 CHRONOLOGY OF THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK 21 AUDITORS’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 27 LIST OF CLEARING BANKS 92 ECCB ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 Eastern Caribbean Central Bank FOREWORD Government, Governance and Economic Management in the ECCU The challenges which now confront the countries of the productivity, for instance, are prescribed by the availability Eastern Caribbean Currency Union are of an order of of arable land which is in short supply. Additionally, no magnitude which requires fundamental evaluation and geological exploration has to date revealed any re-evaluation of our systems of government, governance commercially viable quantities of mineral resources. and economic management. Our populations are very small with the total population Our countries are not alone in this situation as the entire in all countries approximately equating that of local international system is undergoing structural shifts in municipalities in large countries. The situation is even systems of production and distribution, as well as supply more daunting when compared to China and India. and demand. There is also a more than marginal shift in economic power and influence to emerging market Qualitatively, while the standard of education is quite countries such as China and India. impressive at the primary and secondary levels, when compared with other developing countries, it is very The current environment from which the challenges inadequate at the tertiary and technical levels. emanate is characterised by high oil, food and commodity prices; a depreciating US dollar; financial volatility; and a Supply is also constrained institutionally by limitations in credit crunch in the United States and other industrialised entrepreneurial capacity and the size of domestic markets. countries, which can be attributed to the sub prime crisis. This is further exacerbated in the current period by the inability to penetrate external markets even when there is The fact that the American economy is either in recession access. or heading in that direction further compounds the situation and has given rise to a great deal of uncertainty. The demand side is influenced by a number of factors Many institutions, including the IMF, have projected a including: slow down in global growth in the upcoming period. • Geographic location and access to information about consumer durables and modern lifestyles, and Another major issue which has captured the interest and • The liberal democratic system in the OECS which concern of the international community is global warming has matured since adult suffrage in the 1950s. or climate change which has the potential to significantly impact future growth and development. These circumstances have presented us with a vibrant, multiparty, competitive, political system which puts The countries of the ECCU are among the smallest, most pressure on political actors to promise higher living open and vulnerable states in the international system. standards and quality of life to their citizens. They must therefore address global and domestic challenges from their particular and peculiar objective These two factors have a compounding effect as our circumstances. geographical location between North and South America, and our knowledge of the goods and services being The economic problem which confronts these countries produced in a mass consumption society have influenced can be framed in the following way. our desires and demand for a better quality of life. Consumption standards are conveyed to us through