Fund Intended For Short Term Liquidity
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
April 07, 2009 (CUOPM)
Caribbean Ministers of Finance, Central Bank Governors and Insurance Regulators have agreed to set up a US$80 million Liquidity Support Fund to meet the short term liquidity needs of British-American Insurance in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
The meeting also agreed to maintain the viability of British-American Insurance and CLICO in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU in order to safeguard the interests of policyholders of these institutions.
St. Kitts and Nevis Minister of Finance, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris who attended the Special Meeting in Antigua said it considered mechanisms for cooperation among Barbados, the member states of the ECCU and Trinidad and Tobago and agreed on a strategy.
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago through the CARICOM Petroleum Fund would contribute US$50 Million, the Government of Barbados, US$5 million; the ECCU Governments, US$10 Million and Regional and International Organisations, US$15 million.
The meeting was also informed of the progress made by the Government of Barbados in respect of the purchase of CLICO Life (Barbados) by the Insurance Corporation of Barbados. Member Governments of the ECCU undertook to give full support to this initiative.
The meeting endorsed the continued cooperation among insurance regulators in CARICOM to ensure the continued stability of the sector.
Dr Harris was accompanied by Sylvia Manning-Walters, Deputy Financial Secretary and Kerstin Petty, Registrar of Insurance.
The meeting was also attended by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Chief Minister of Montserrat, Ministers of Finance and other officials from the Ministries of Finance of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) member states, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, Governors of the Central Bank of Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, the Secretary General of CARICOM, Insurance Regulators of the ECCU and Guyana and representatives of the OECS Secretariat.
Dr. the Hon Ralph E. Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Chairman of the Joint Task Force of the OECS and the ECCB chaired the meeting.
