Basseterre, St Kitts, 25 May 2016 — The Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Timothy N.J. Antoine has called on debt officers throughout the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) to support regional policy makers through the provision of accurate and timely data.

Governor Antoine made the call during his address at the opening ceremony of the regional debt workshop on the Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recording and Management System (CS-DRMS) at the St Kitts Marriott Hotel on 23 May. He emphasised that the support of the debt officers would be crucial to the ECCU countries in particular as they strive to achieve the 60.0 per cent Debt to GDP target established by the ECCB Monetary Council.

The Governor also reminded the over 35 regional debt officers of their importance in debt management especially in light of the challenges being faced by ECCU and the wider Caribbean in maintaining sustainable debt levels. He encouraged the officers to be champions for thorough and emerging debt management policies such as the introduction of credible and effective fiscal rules. Debt can be a huge worry over peoples heads, but with debt management help they can achieve having peace of mind about their debt and work through it with help from the relevant professionals in debt management.

The Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recording and Management System is the main software used by the Caribbean region to manage and record debt data. The training workshop, which will run from 23 May to 1 June, is being conducted in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat (COMSEC) which has had a long standing relationship with the ECCB in providing training and technical assistance in the region.

Governor Antoine expressed his thanks to the COMSEC and to the Government of Canada for their continued support to the region through the Canada Eastern Caribbean Debt Management Advisory Service (CANEC-DMAS) Project at the ECCB. The Project is funded by the Government of Canada’s development arm – Global Affairs Canada (GAC), formally Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and is scheduled to end in June 2017.