EXPORT CREDIT BANK FOUNDED BY CARIBBEAN NATIONS
Finance ministers from the
13-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) approved a draft
agreement for a new export credit facility, in an effort to
stem the steady decline in interregional trade.
     The Caribbean Export Credit Bank, scheduled to begin
operations January 1, 1988, will be headquartered in Barbados.
Its initial capital of 17 mln dlrs will come from Caricom
member governments, private sector donors and the Caribbean
Development Bank.
    Capitalisation is projected at 60 mln dlrs with foreign
aid, including soft loans from international institutions.
    Caricom leaders are attending their annual meeting and high
on the agenda is how to stop the decline in inter-regional
trade which dropped by a third last year.
 Reuter
