Regional Debt Coordinating Committee Pleased with Investors’ Participation on Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM)
During the first three months of 2012, the four member governments of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union that issued securities on the Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM) were successful in raising short and long term capital amounting to $246.6m.
This information came out of a report that was presented at the 32nd Meeting of the Regional Debt Coordinating Committee (RDCC), which has direct oversight for the RGSM. According to the report, although there was a modest decline in the value of the bids from investors, the 11 securities that were issued during the period were generally oversubscribed. While interest rates on 91-day Treasury bills increased slightly, the governments were able to minimise the cost of borrowing as the auctions remained competitive.
The report further stated that another positive development on the RGSM was the increase in ECCU citizens’ interest in government securities as they sought to diversify their investment portfolios. In this regard, the RDCC commended the efforts of the various stakeholders to develop the RGSM. The Committee also recognised the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica for becoming the sixth member government to issue on the RGSM.
During the meeting, which was held at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Headquarters on 29 March 2012, the RDCC also considered a number of recommendations aimed at fostering the continued growth in the RGSM. The Committee acknowledged the significant progress being made by member governments in building the capacity of the staff of the debt units in areas such as: the development of debt strategies, debt portfolio reviews and debt sustainability analysis, through the support of the Canada-Eastern Caribbean Debt Management Advisory Services project at the ECCB.
All the ECCU member governments, with the exception of Anguilla and Montserrat, participate on the RGSM. The RDCC, which comprises the financial secretaries of the eight member countries of the ECCU and the Governor of the ECCB, provides a forum for enhancing the overall debt management capabilities of the member governments and for improving the functioning of the RGSM. The Honourable John Skerritt, Financial Secretary for Montserrat, is the current chairman of the RDCC.