Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
On 24th July 2015, the Chairmanship of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) was handed over to Anguilla’s Honourable Chief Minister Victor Banks. The Monetary Council is the highest decision-making authority of the ECCB. It comprises eight Ministers of Finance from each of the participating Governments. This year is Anguilla’s turn to chair the Council. The formal handing over took place at a ceremony at La Vue Hotel and was marked by notable speeches by Governor of the ECCB, Sir K Dwight Venner; outgoing Chairman Dr the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines; and incoming Chairman, our Honourable Chief Minister Victor Banks.
It was clear from the speeches that the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union has a lot to be proud of. For many years, the Union has been able to preserve the stability of the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, even in the current economic crisis. However, what was brought home even more clearly is that this crisis is having a detrimental effect on the ECCB, and it is through determination, grit and creative engineering that the Union remains intact, even though some institutions – including two indigenous banks in Anguilla and one in Antigua – have been severely impacted. In his address, Dr the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves intimated that the takeover of these banks was necessary in the interest of the depositors and the Union. He also intimated that the condition of the banks was linked to issues of management and incestuous lending. He went further to suggest (though not in these exact words) that in small economies we ought to be conscious of the fragility of the banking sector and recognise that the solution to the crisis can be a hard but necessary pill to swallow. According to Dr Gonsalves, one way of strengthening the Union is to revamp the regulatory framework of the banking sector, and in this vein he encouraged the member states to pass the new draft legislation into law so that the proposed regulatory framework can be harmonized across all countries.
Following the charismatic and entertaining Dr Gonsalves, it was our Honourable Chief Minister’s turn to say a few words in accepting the mantle as Chairman of the Monetary Council. The Honourable Chief Minister expressed his commitment to leading the Currency Union safely through this economic depression. His remarks confirmed his recognition that the situation in Anguilla has a direct impact on the viability of the Union and that as Anguilla’s Chief Minister this placed him in a precarious position, but one which he felt he was able to balance. The question we must ask, though: can this balance be realistically accomplished? We know from Biblical teachings that no one can serve two masters. When the time comes for tough decisions to be made about our banking sector, the pertinent questions we must ask are: Who will our Honourable Chief Minister serve? Will he act in the best interest of the Currency Union or in the best interest of Anguilla, because it is very likely that at some point those interests will not merge?
Interestingly, later on in his remarks Mr Banks, as though reading our minds or being astute enough to recognize the concerns of Anguillians, deliberately deviated from his script and spoke directly to the people of Anguilla giving them the assurance that, even though he is assuming the Chairmanship of the Monetary Council, his first allegiance is to Anguilla. He stressed the uniqueness of Anguilla in having two indigenous banks in which the people are the major shareholders (3,500 in the case of NBA and 65 in the case of CCB), and indicated that there must be some flexibility in the regulatory environment to allow for the differences in the circumstances of each territory. Mr Banks made it clear where he stood in relation to ensuring that our local banking sector survived this crisis vis a vis his position as Chairman of the Monetary Council.
We will have to wait and see whether our Chief Minister’s Chairmanship of the Monetary Council will be to the detriment or benefit of Anguilla. We trust that in recognizing the mandate he has been given as Chief Minister of our country, he will choose wisely whom he will serve.
