Bdos: Caribbean union doesn't need common currency

Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. Marion Williams, says while a common Caribbean currency is one of the ultimate goals of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, the economic union can be implemented without it.

Speaking at a workshop for media practitioners at the Bank’s Tom Adams Financial Centre headquarters, Dr. Williams stated that all the countries in the regions had different regimes governing exchange rates, foreign exchange reserves and interest rates. With that in mind, a series of convergence criteria has been derived to govern the establishment of a common currency.

She noted that a common currency would benefit the single market and economy, but the European Union had been going for well over 40 years when it established its common currency, the Euro, within recent years.

The disparity in exchange rates is so great (Guyana has an exchange rate of $189G to $1USD; Barbados is $2BD to $1USD; TT, $6TT to $1USD, relies on Guyana for much of its imports) that an attempt to forge a common currency might destabilize the region economically.