KINGSTOWN, ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES – Caribbean news. Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves took over the Chairmanship of the Eastern Caribbean Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), at the 79th meeting of the Monetary Council PM having accepted the chairmanship from Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony of Saint Lucia.
Dr Gonsalves said he was assuming the chairmanship in an uneasy, challenging and uncertain environment but vowed to take his responsibility seriously.
“Now as we are all aware the economies in the currency union have been all affected since 2008 by the fall out in the global economic melt down and we still have the lingering effects,” he stated.
He added that the region had experienced a lot of natural disasters as well as problems in the insurance fields and challenges faced by the indigenous banks in terms of capital adequacy.
Dr. Gonsalves said financial stability will remain paramount and would continue to be addressed using the strategy for strengthening the resilience of the financial sector which was approved by the monetary council.
“Because if we don’t maintain the financial stability, we would weaken immensely all the other things which we are trying to do,” he said.
The incoming chairman said in addressing the challenges in the banking sector, the focus would be on the restructuring and recapitalization of the banking system.
He also noted that exercise to measure the capital requirements of the commercial banks would be completed including the stress testing, credit portfolio reviews, appraisals of collateral and audit reviews.
“This would facilitate the commencement of the restructuring and recapitalization of the commercial banks with immediate attention being given to banks which have been put under the control of the Central Bank.”
PM Gonsalves said he was conscious of his own obligation and responsibility to assist in guiding the monetary council as the Central Bank implemented these regulatory processes and commenced the restructuring and recapitalization of the banks.
