Commercial banks across the Eastern Caribbean are holding billions in excess liquidity while businesses and entrepreneurs continue to face barriers to accessing credit, Central Bank Governor Dr Timothy N.J. Antoine said, warning that the imbalance is constraining economic growth across the region.
Speaking at the launch of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s 2026–2031 strategic plan, Antoine disclosed that financial institutions currently hold more than $28 billion in deposits compared with about $16 billion in loans, a gap he described as evidence of a structural weakness in the region’s financial system.
The disparity, he explained, reflects a system where funds are available but are not being effectively deployed to support businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises that often struggle to meet lending requirements.
“We have excess liquidity,” Antoine said, noting that the issue is not the availability of money but the ability to channel it into productive investment.
The governor said addressing this imbalance is central to the ECCB’s new “Big Push” strategy, which aims to accelerate economic transformation across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union by unlocking credit, improving financial access, and modernizing financial infrastructure.
A key component of that effort is the expansion of the bank’s partial credit guarantee programme, which is designed to reduce lending risk for banks and encourage them to extend financing to underserved sectors. Under the programme, the ECCB provides guarantees of up to 75–80 percent on qualifying loans, significantly lowering the exposure for financial institutions.
The initiative has already supported more than 300 loans valued at approximately $30 million, targeting farmers, fishers, creatives, and small businesses. Antoine said the programme will now be scaled up to reach a wider cross-section of the economy.
He also pointed to the need for broader use of tools such as the regional credit bureau, which allows lenders to better assess risk and price loans more accurately, potentially lowering borrowing costs and expanding access to financing.
Beyond credit access, Antoine outlined plans to modernize the region’s payment systems as part of efforts to improve efficiency and reduce transaction costs. The ECCB is preparing to roll out a fast payment system that will enable quicker and cheaper transactions across the currency union, a move expected to benefit both consumers and businesses.
In addition, the bank will participate in a pilot for the CARICOM payment and settlement system, which will facilitate real-time, low-cost cross-border payments in local currencies, with settlements handled between central banks.
Antoine said these reforms are critical to creating a more inclusive and dynamic financial system, stressing that liquidity alone does not drive economic growth.
“The big push needs credit,” he said, adding that financial institutions must play a more active role in supporting development by lending to viable projects and expanding opportunities for investment.
He also noted that while the banking system is liquid, there remains a shortage of “bankable” projects, suggesting that both the public and private sectors must work together to generate viable business opportunities that can absorb available financing.
The governor said the ECCB’s role is to create the conditions for growth — including maintaining a stable currency, safeguarding the financial system, and improving access to finance — but emphasized that sustained expansion must ultimately come from businesses, governments, and citizens working together.
The issue of underutilized liquidity, he added, highlights the urgency of reform as the region seeks to move beyond stability toward sustained economic growth under the five-year strategic plan.