Increased interest shown in the RGSM
Basseterre, St Kitts 17 May 2008 The Regional Debt Coordinating Committee says that the oversubscription of Treasury bill issues on the RGSM in the first four months of 2008 signifies the growing interest of investors in the regional securities market. In reviewing the performance of the RGSM at its 27th meeting, by videoconference, on 16 May 2008, the RDCC noted that the value of bids for 91 day Treasury bills on the market more than doubled to EC$321.6m from EC$142m over the same period in 2007. These developments were indicative of the high level of liquidity currently being experienced by the banking sector. According to the RDCC, the oversubscription had contributed to a fall in yields on Treasury bills from an average of 5.9 percent in December 2007 to 4.90 percent in April 2008, which could enable the Participating Governments to reduce their debt service costs. Governments therefore were urged to utilise the RGSM to raise their required funding. The Committee also recognized the efforts of the Governments of Anguilla and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in obtaining a credit rating which will augur well for enhancing confidence in the development of money and capital markets in the ECCU. This brings to four the number of Participating Governments that are rated. The Committee approved a regional calendar of issues for 2008 which includes thirty-seven (37) issues from the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Mr Whitfield Harris Jr, Financial Secretary of Antigua and Barbuda chaired the meeting attended by representatives of the Governments of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Montserrat, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. The next meeting of the RDCC, which oversees the development and operations of the Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM), is scheduled for July 2008.
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
P O Box 89, Basseterre,
St Kitts
Contact: Ingrid Shortte, Director, Corporate Relations Department
Phone: (869) 465-2537
Fax: (869) 465-9562
E-mail: info@eccb-centralbank.org
Website: www.eccb-centralbank.org
