Chronological Highlights of the Organisation
1984
- 1986
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The first meeting of the Monetary Council, established in accordance
with Article 7 of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement,
was held on January 20.
- ECCB required all commercial banks operating in the territories
of participating governments to hold with it minimum reserves
at the level of 6.0 per cent of their deposit liabilities,
effective April 30. Prior to this, commercial banks operating
in most of the territories were required to hold special deposits
at the Treasury of their respective governments.
- All banks operating in more than one territory were required
to maintain separate accounts at the ECCB for their territorial
operations, effective April 30.
- All commercial banks were required to disclose to their
customers and the ECCB, the effective rates of interest charged
on loans given by them.
- An Export Credit and Guarantee Department was established
on July 1, with the purpose of promoting exports from the
Eastern Caribbean region. An Export Finance Guarantee scheme
was introduced to provide pre-shipment insurance to assist
exporters in procuring finance more easily from commercial
banks, at the pre-shipment stage, for the manufacturing of
goods to be exported against orders.
- An Infrastructure for Productive Investment Project (IPIP)
was established in August. The Bank entered into an agreement
with the United States Agency for International Development
to provide commercial banks with access to long term funds
to finance commercial loans to private sector developers of
industrial properties. The Bank was responsible for co-ordinating
the project and monitoring the use of project funds to ensure
that developers adhere to acceptable construction standards
and practices.
- The $10.00 bill, the first in a series of coded notes
to replace the series issued under the ECCA, was introduced
on November 15. Country codes were assigned to the new series
of notes.
- An ECCB Resident Representative Office, the first to be
established, was opened in Grenada on November 1.
Commercial banks were required to pay a minimum rate of 4.0
per cent interest on savings deposits, effective January.
Prior to this measure the rate on savings deposits in some
member countries was as low as 2.5 per cent.
An official inter-bank market was established in March. It
provided an opportunity for banks to invest funds held in
current account balances as well as to recycle liquidity among
the territories. Bids and offers on the market are for seven
days, with the Central Bank responsible for matching bids
with offers at any given time.
The coded $1.00 note was introduced on August 1, and the
$100.00 note on December 5. These notes replaced the series
issued under the authority of the former Eastern Caribbean
Currency Authority (ECCA).
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1987 - 1989
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1984
- 1986