Dominica: Finance Minister Irving McIntyre attends 104th Monetary Council of ECCB

Roseau, Dominica: The 104th Meeting of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) was hosted on February 24, 2023, at the Headquarters of the Bank in the twin-island Federation of St Kitts and Nevis.

The Commonwealth of Dominica, one of the Caribbean countries, will be represented by the Minister for Finance, Economic Development, Climate Resilience and Social Security, Dr Irving McIntyre. According to the update shared by the government of the nation, he reached the neighbouring country on February 24, 2023, and attended the 104th Meeting of the ECCB Monetary Council at the ECCB Headquarters in St. Kitts.

According to the update shared by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), during the meeting, the received the Report on Monetary and Credit Conditions from the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The report provided the data between January and December 2022. As per the Bank, the report was subtitled “A BIG Push…For Resilience, Innovation, Inclusion and Transformation”, and the prime focus of it was the recent economic recovery, both globally as well as within the ECCU, along with the impact that the grown uncertainty in the global environment is having on this recovery.

The report indicated that the worldwide growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2023 had been revised upward by 0.2 of a percentage point to 2.9 percent; in the month of October last year, the IMF had projected 2.7 percent global growth for the recent year. This is below the 2000-2019 average of 3.8 percent.

The conclusion of the meeting also informed that the next meeting, i.e. 105th Meeting of the Monetary Council, will be held in St Vincent and the Grenadines on July 21, 2023 (Friday). The meeting will be headed by Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves, who will take up the chairmanship of the Monetary Council.