ECCB Governor Urges IMF To Help Boost Caribbean Growth

Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy N. J. Antoine, has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to work collaboratively with the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and the wider Caribbean to boost economic growth. To that end, the Governor identified four key areas: (i) Research support on The Big Push; (ii) Accelerating the Renewable Energy transition; (iii) Digital Transformation; and (iv) Financial Protection. Governor Antoine made the request while delivering remarks at the Caribbean Ministerial Meeting with IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, which was convened under the theme: “Potential Growth in the Caribbean: Taking on Enduring Challenges and Emerging Opportunities.” The event was an important high-level engagement between Caribbean Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors and the top leadership of the IMF. It took place as part of the 2024 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group currently underway in Washington, DC. Early last year (at the launch of ECCB’s 40th anniversary celebrations), Governor Antoine issued a challenge for the ECCU countries to consider what it would take to double the size of their economies over the next decade, a challenge which he styled: “The Big Push.” It is against this backdrop that...