On this the 26th Anniversary of the establishment of the ECCB I wish to acknowledge the contribution that the Management and staff are making to the institution especially in these challenging times. We need, however, to reflect on the times in which we are living today and position ourselves to grapple with the many challenges facing us.

We are experiencing at this time, like the rest of the world, an economic and financial crisis of great proportion, some of the well-known examples being:

• a decrease in tourist arrivals
• a decrease in remittances
• the collapse of CLICO and British American
• the run on the Bank of Antigua

These adverse developments in the financial system should make us more vigilant and more determined to find solutions to the many problems facing us. In January 2009 the OECS Ministers of Finance in a response to the economic crisis developed an Eight-Point Stabilization and Growth Programme to deal with the problem and organized a “Boot Camp” which was held two weeks ago to facilitate Economic and Financial adjustment in the ECCU. The Bank is expected to play its part in this endeavour.

I look forward to your continued support and collaboration as we continue to grapple with the economic and financial problems facing the ECCU and hope for improved circumstances in our financial system in the near future.

Happy Anniversary!

K Dwight Venner
Governor