Staff writer Eunice Nisbett
In the Caribbean there are a number of things which we have grown used to accept as the norm, and which provide us with a sense of stability. For the countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines) one of these is the currency, the Eastern Caribbean dollar or EC dollar. So while other things change, we are comforted that our exchange rate remains the same.
The EC dollar has been pegged or fixed to the US dollar since 1976 at the rate of EC.70 to US.00. Before that time the currency was fixed to the pound sterling. The shifting of the peg to the US dollar reflected the changing world at that time, as the United States began to emerge as a major trading partner for the Eastern Caribbean countries.
Wherein lies the will for these small island states to maintain the stability of
The Mighty Eastern Caribbean 5 Dollar bill
their dollar? It is entrenched within the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement (1983) which established the Bank, and which requires that any change in the peg of the EC dollar will have to be made by the Bank’s Monetary Council. The Council consists of a Minister of Government appointed by each Participating Government in such manner that it may determine. In most cases the Council Member is the Prime Minister/Minister of Finance of the participating countries.
The stability of the EC dollar and the exchange rate can be a decided advantage in securing the services of a qualified, savvy and professional Virtual Assistant from the Eastern Caribbean.
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