NEW CENTRAL BANK UNIT TO LOOK AT PRICING AND ‘POSSIBLY SPREADS’ – TIMOTHY ANTOINE

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank is on the verge of launching a new unit to strengthen protections for customers of financial institutions across the currency union.

The ECCB says its new Office of Financial Conduct is to begin operations by September of this year, ensuring customers of banks and other financial institutions are treated fairly.

Central Bank Governor, Timothy Antoine, says the new office will examine pricing in general, and possibly the thorny issue of interest rate spreads.

This is the difference between what financial institutions charge as interest on loans and what they pay out as interest on savings.