SVG performs second best in OECS for 2009

The local economy declined by 1.1 per cent in 2009, even as there was an average contraction of 7.3 per cent across the eight-member Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), of which St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is a member.{{more}}

ECCU figures show that only the economy of Montserrat, a colony of Britain, grew in 2009, registering a one per cent improvement on its 2008 performance.

All other ECCU economies – comprising countries that use the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC$) — contracted in 2009, as follows: Anguilla 24.4 per cent; Antigua and Barbuda 8.9 per cent; Dominica 2 per cent; Grenada 7.7 per cent; St. Kitts/Nevis 9.6 per cent; St. Lucia 5.2 per cent and SVG 1.1 percent.

According to ECCU projections, only the economies of Dominica, Montserrat and St. Lucia are expected to grow this year, by one per cent, 2.1 per cent, and 1.3, respectively.

The other economies are expected to contract in 2010 as follows: Anguilla 6.6 per cent; Antigua and Barbuda 6.5 per cent; Dominica 1 per cent; Grenada 1.8 per cent; St. Kitts/Nevis 1.3 per cent; and SVG 1 percent.

The Monetary Council of the ECCU, which met in Grenada on July 16, said the “general decline” of ECCU economies was brought about by the global crisis, with repercussions being particularly evident in the financial sector and in the government’s fiscal accounts.

It said in the ECCU the economies were small, open and highly vulnerable to external shocks.

The Council, however, “recognised that there was still the urgent need to address the increase in government expenditures in order to achieve the required level of savings to facilitate economic development and transformation”.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is also Minister of Finance, attended the meeting in Grenada.

“When others talk about the performance of the economy in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we have to put it relative to other economies around us and what is taking place in the rest of the world,” he told reporters at a press conference at Cabinet Room on Monday. (KXC)