action, a disciplining device. thus, for instance, if a country was not likely to meet the fiscal criterion, strict monitoring as well as peer pressure forced the country to take measures to come back on track. you would also remember that under the exchange rate mechanism ( erm ), countries were required to intervene in foreign exchange markets to keep their floating currencies within the agreed band. in short, the convergence criteria had “ teeth ” and carried sanctions. in the case of the caribbean, the convergence criteria seem to be purely for information purposes ; they have certainly not been seen as a guide to policy ; there is no official monitoring ; there are no sanctions ; and none of the participating countries seem anxious to yield sovereignty over economic policy. on this issue, prime minster arthur of barbados who has lead responsibility for the implementation of the csme commented as follows : “ our caribbean community has been conceived to be a comm unity of sovereign states. each sovereign state in such an arrangement retains exclusive powers in relation to the implementation of community decisions. there is also no provision for the transfer of sovereignty to any supranational regional institutions and there is no body of community law that takes precedence over domestic legislation ”. consequently, prime minister arthur noted ( in a speech to the trinidad and tobago chamber of commerce in june 2005 ) “ the convergence project “ will go nowhere unless there is substantial political engagement on the matter of monetary convergence. this is precisely because the issue of sovereignty hangs over the subject of monetary cooperation and the adoption of a regional currency. the matter ( he continued ) therefore has to be addressed also as a political issue requiring as much political commitment as it does a technical and economic foundation ”. in addition to political will and commitment, the literature on monetary union also emphasizes the importance of communication with the various publics who need to be weaned off the uncertainties and apprehension about relinquishing their national currency. another major challenge could be the distrust and suspicion between member states – the smaller states fearing domination by the larger states or the richer states concerned about bearing too much of the financial burden. monetary union or some kind of intensified monetary co - operation may indeed be the way of enhancing integration of the caribbean region. however, we need to re - examine our approach and in particular, we need to summon up the political will and achieve public buy - in to make this initiative a success.

gathered here : 4. the first involves further bolstering financial inclusion in trinidad and tobago. our country became the 100th member of the international body, the alliance for financial inclusion ( afi ) in 2013. afi ’ s main role is to strengthen the ability of individuals across the globe — especially low income persons in remote page 2 of 5 areas — to safely and meaningfully participate in organized financial activities. in certain parts of africa, east asia and latin america many communities are effectively cut off from the banking world — most transactions are by barter, or cash, and few persons have or even know what a bank account is. trinidad and tobago is somewhat different — we do have a widespread banking presence due to the country ’ s income level, our relatively small size and our long history with banks. nonetheless, we still need to work more on encouraging, embracing and keeping the participation of several communities in the formal financial sector. in this regard, it is important for banks to pay particular attention to the specific needs of the young, the elderly and the differently abled among others as you roll out your array of services and outfit your facilities. we at the central bank are boosting our national financial literacy program in 2017 / 18 ; we are happy to partner with batt in common areas so that the man in the street has a better understanding of the importance and the options available for savings, investments, budgeting, retirement planning as well as the potential risks in the financial world. 5. a second issue relates to transparency and fairness in dealing with customers. as we develop as a society, financial transactions can tend to become more complex and opaque — sometimes you get the impression that you need to enlist a senior counsel to get you through the fine print of the contract for setting up the most basic savings account! it is therefore imperative that banks and other financial institutions commit to meaningfully simplifying their agreements and making every effort to ensure that their customers understand the terms and conditions. we at the central bank are encouraged by the relaunch of the banking code of practice a few days ago, but like mr. stoddard, the financial services ombudsman, we look forward to the principles of transparency and fairness being page 3 of 5 applied fully in practice. one specific example i would call to mind is the guideline on the mortgage market, jointly developed between the central bank and batt, to cover information disclosure and predictability in the adjustment of interest rates on loans on what for most