BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, September 4, 2018 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, is presently in Barbados where he has joined his regional colleagues for the one-day Sixth Special Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) today, Tuesday, September 4.
 
The COFAP is responsible for economic policy coordination, financial and monetary integration of member states. It is being held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, the Honourable Gaston Browne, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC).
 
Among the other responsibilities of the COFAP is to establish and promote measures for the co-ordination and convergence of national macro-economic policies of the Member States and for the execution of a harmonized policy on foreign investment; promote and facilitate the adoption of measures for fiscal and monetary co-operation among the Member States, including the establishment of mechanisms for payment arrangements and recommend measures to achieve and maintain fiscal discipline by the Governments of the Member States.
 
Prime Minister Harris is being accompanied to the high-level meeting by Deputy Financial Secretary of the St. Kitts and Nevis in the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Calvin Edwards.
 
The Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Barbados is also the venue for the Ninth Meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the CARICOM Single Market and the Economy (CSME) on Wednesday, September 5.
 
Issues relating to the contingent rights of citizens, such as health care, education, the single registration of international businesses and the approval of automatic six-month stays to CARICOM nationals are among the issues expected to be addressed at that meeting.