Technical officers from the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) countries and Trinidad and Tobago met to expand their skills in debt strategy preparation during a hands-on eight-day training workshop in St Kitts and Nevis from 29 June to 8 July.
The workshop was organised through the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s Canada Eastern Caribbean Debt Management Advisory Service (CANEC-DMAS) Project in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund’s Debt Programme and The World Bank.
In light of the current economic climate and the debt challenges that ECCU countries are facing, more regional governments are ensuring that a more methodical approach is applied to government borrowing. This will allow governments to consider their funding options by looking at the costs and risks involved and determining the best path to take when borrowing in the future. Sound strategies, once followed, can provide cost savings to countries and/or guard them from potential risk.
The workshop provided training to officers who might not have received formal training on the IMF Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) Framework previously. It also provided an avenue for participants to share their country experiences on the process.
The ECCB conducted a similar workshop in 2011. Since then, six ECCU countries have prepared strategies utilising the MTDS: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Some of the strategies have also been approved by Cabinet in those countries.
The CANEC-DMAS Project and the IMF Debt Programme are sponsored by the Government of Canada through the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD).