timothy n j antoine : launch of results of financial literacy and financial inclusion survey remarks by mr timothy n j antoine, governor of the eastern caribbean central bank, at the launch of results of financial literacy and financial inclusion survey, basseterre, 18 september 2023. * * * salutations members of the monetary council members of the eccb board of directors dr. didacus jules, director general of the oecs commission ms. lilia buruncic, director for the caribbean, world bank and team ms. helen gradstein and team from the united nations capital development fund ( uncdf ) dr. valda henry, deputy governor ms. tracy polius, chief director ( policy ) mrs. c. teresa smith, director of the research, statistics and data analytics department heads of department, management and staff mr. imran williams, project manager and oecs project team, now the director of finance in the government of saint lucia mrs. gail gray - phillip, head of uwi global campus, st. kitts and nevis mr. edwin st. catherine, ceo, data point solutions inc. and team specially invited guests students members of media fellow citizens and residents of the eccu introduction greetings from your eastern caribbean central bank! we work for you. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches today, we are pleased to share the results of our inaugural financial literacy and inclusion survey. we could not undertake this effort without partnerships. consequently, at this juncture, i wish to highly commend all those associated with this survey, especially mrs. c. teresa smith and dr. leah sahely from the eccb, and the entire project management unit at the oecs commission led by mr. imran williams, now the director of finance in the government of saint lucia. i wish also to acknowledge the technical and financial support of the world bank under the caribbean digital transformation project ; mr. edwin st. catherine whose company, data point solutions inc., executed the survey ; and all the persons who participated in the survey. why did the eccb commission this survey? here at eccb, financial inclusion is a strategic priority. financial inclusion refers to access to a range of financial services including banking, credit and insurance. investopedia defines financial literacy as the ability to understand certain financial issues and use financial skills for personal financial management such as budgeting and investing. in a region which boasts high levels of adult literacy ( high 90 per

territory to oversee financial institutions not regulated under the banking act. the bank established a payment system council to research, consult, and advise on payment system policy, in an effort to make the system in the eastern caribbean currency union more effective, efficient, reliable and secure. one of the benefits from this will be that, in any of the bank's member countries, you can have ready access to your accounts through the use of debit and credit cards. there were also positive developments with respect to the bank's money and capital market development programme during the year. among these was the increase to five, in the number of governments participating in the regional government securities market, following the issue of treasury bills by the government of antigua and barbuda. these five governments have benefited from a reduction in their cost of borrowing, while the public is now able to invest in a larger pool of investment instruments. with respect to the eastern caribbean securities exchange, the listing of two prominent regional companies, grace kennedy limited of jamaica and firstcaribbean international bank limited of barbados, is evidence that the efforts of the bank to promote the eastern caribbean securities exchange as the caricom exchange, are beginning to bear fruit. as part of the effort to promote business development and to infuse an entrepreneurial spirit in the region's youth, the bank collaborated with private and public sector partners to introduce the junior achievement programme in st kitts and nevis. successful programmes are already operating in grenada and saint lucia under the auspices of other interested parties in those countries. the bank intends to work with partners in the other currency union countries where the junior achievement programme does not yet exist, to ensure that it is implemented. recognising the importance of public understanding and involvement in the economic development thrust, the bank continued to expand its public education and awareness programme throughout the year. among the initiatives targeting school children, the media and the public were : • a savings and investments course, which has now been implemented in grenada, st kitts and nevis, montserrat and anguilla ; • media round table discussions in all of the eccb member countries. • press briefings, following monetary council meetings, which have been aired on radio and television in member countries. • regional interactive discussions on the economic performance of currency union countries, and • the opening of the oecs / eccu exhibition centre with a mission to promote an understanding of the people, culture, history and economies of the oec