Caribbean Single Currency on Hold

Among other markets developments seen moving slowly in the Caribbean, a single currency appears some way off. “In a sense the Caribbean is moving in an evolutionary way towards this,” says Carl Ross, senior managing director at Bear Stearns. “If CSME gets up and running and proves to be successful, maybe 10 years down the road they can think about it,” he adds. “The best currency, if there is a single currency in the Caribbean, should be the US dollar. I don’t think a Caribbean currency will ever really work, although I’d love to be proven wrong.” According to the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), talks on a single currency are on hold until regional market conditions are right. “As far as the single currency is concerned, there is a decision to let that be in abeyance,” says Compton Bourne, president of the CDB. Others are slightly more bullish. Janette Cupid-St. Hilaire, director of public sector finance at the T&T Ministry of Finance, says a single currency is only around 4-5 years off. They were speaking at the Caribbean Investment Forum in Montego Bay, a LatinFinance/Euromoney conference. Delegates are slightly more optimistic about the prospects for a link up between the stock markets of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, though exchange officials are still waiting for the regulators. The consensus suggests that unified regional trading could start this year, though Jamaican dealers who have endured much talk and little action remain skeptical.