The people in Anguilla and the other member territories of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) have been told that 2006 saw one of the highest growth rates (7.1 percent) in the sub-region in recent years. It has been predicted that there are also good prospects for the islands in 2007 and beyond.

Sir K. Dwight Venner

This was reported by ECCB Governor, Sir K. Dwight Venner. He said the high rate of economic growth was boosted by expansion in the construction and tourism sectors. He noted that foreign exchange reserves reached EC$1.9 billion at the end of December 2006. In tourism, the number of stay-over visitors rose by 4.8 percent and receipts increased by 10 percent to EC$3.3 billion.

Governor Venner was at the time presenting an economic review of the performance of the member islands during last year. The eight territories of which he spoke, and which also form the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

His address, via video conference networking from St. Kitts to each of the ECCB’s agency offices on January 18, was followed by an interactive session. Those who asked questions from Anguilla were Dr. Wycliffe Fahie from the Ministry of Finance, former Permanent Secretary for Economic Development, Marcel Fahie, and Communications Specialist and Clinical Psychologist, Dr. O.M. Linda Banks. Among those present were the ECCB’s Agency Office Representative Marilyn Richardson-Bartlett who presided over the occasion in Anguilla and her colleague, Patricia Webster.

Sir Dwight Venner observed that the overall terms for loans from the commercial banks were quite favourable. Credit to households increased by 11.7 percent and were used mainly for mortgages and the purchase of consumer durables. Business loans rose by 23.5 percent.

Anguillians at ECCB Agency Office in The Valley

The ECCB Governor also spoke on prospects for 2007 and beyond. “This year presents a golden opportunity to use a major event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, as a spring board for facilitating the transition and transformation of our economies,” he stated. He outlined a number of critical elements associated with the event as follows: the provision of vital infrastructure and sporting facilities which should be viewed as exploitable assets; the acquisition of commercial disciplines which are essential to run a modern economy; and the international and regional exposure which will put the countries of the Currency Union on the map, so to speak.

He outlined challenges associated with the staging of the event. He said they covered the principle of management and its application in the preparatory phase; the event itself; and the post-event process of coming in for a soft landing after the high point of the spectacle. He stressed the successes of the World Cup would not solve all the problems in the sub-region.

He identified other remaining significant challenges, facing the sub-region, which include the loss of trade preferences for agricultural export commodities; the urgent need to address fiscal and debt imbalances; the challenge of deteriorating social conditions in the areas of health care, in particular HIV/AIDS; increasing criminal activity; continuing pockets of poverty; and the vulnerability of the islands to external shocks and natural disasters.

Governor Venner referred to two recently-produced World Bank documents which he thought were very encouraging to the eight islands comprising the Currency Union. One of them is “the Growth and Competitiveness Report” which identifies areas of production possibilities where activities are already taking place and where there is scope for investment. The other document is “Doing Business in 2006” which gives very high marks to some ECCU countries on an international basis.

“If we add to this the relative political, social, currency and financial stability that our countries currently enjoy, then the prospects…could improve significantly between 2007 and 2010,” the ECCB Governor predicted.

In his summary he added that “the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 can provide a significant stimulus and exposure for our countries.”

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