Bananas, The WTO and Adjustment Initiatives in the
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Area by Oral H Williams
and Reginald Darius(1998)
The paper examines the socio-economic role of bananas
in the countries comprising the unified currency
area in the Eastern Caribbean. It discusses the
viability of the industry in light of the recent
WTO ruling that the banana regime contravened the
WTO agreement in several aspects. The nature of
the system of preferences for bananas is reviewed
while the contribution of bananas to merchandise
exports and real GDP, and its impact on land use
are highlighted. The social dimensions of banana
production are illustrated by its contribution to
rural stability and informal sector activity. Finally,
policy issues related to diversification, industry
adjustment, social safety nets and competitiveness
are reviewed. 
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DEVELOPMENT BANKING ISSUES IN THE ECCB
AREA by Garth P Nicholls (1997)
The concept of a development bank arises out of
the perceived need on the part of a particular
society to provide mechanisms which facilitate
economic development. It finds its rationale in
the appeal to the concept of market failure on
the part of existing financial institutions. However,
a development bank, by financing projects which
possess positive externalities, usually fulfills
only one aspect of an overall strategy aimed at
economic development. To be effective, it must
form part of a wider development strategy. The
development bank's goal should therefore be assisting
with the implementation of certain aspects of
the development strategy using the private sector
as an avenue. The performance of the development
banks in the ECCB area has been mixed. A number
of factors have had an impact on their overall
performance; among them are over-exposure to risks
in the domestic economy, high transaction costs
and a dearth of long term domestic finance and
technical capacity. However, these factors do
not justify the suspension, by the authorities,
of this type of activity. On the contrary, because
market failure is pervasive in the domestic financial
arrangements, the state may need to be more entrepreneurial,
by playing either a facilitatory or interventionist
role. In this sense, therefore, the solution may
be to find ways of improving the operations of
the development banks.
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