by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN)—The Caribbean Public Finance Management (PFM) Roundtable convened on June 29, 2026, at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) headquarters in St. Kitts under the theme “Uniting in Purpose, Strengthening Public Financial Management”.
The purpose of the roundtable was to drive transparency, accountability, and resilience in regional public financial systems while shaping the strategic direction of the newly established Caribbean Accountant General Network (CAGN).
Delivering remarks at the Roundtable, Chief Director (Policy), D Tracy Polius (PHD), underscored the critical role of Accountants-General in safeguarding sound public financial management across the Caribbean.
“Monetary stability and fiscal discipline are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. Governments that manage public resources transparently and efficiently create the fiscal space that allows for independent monetary policy. They build the trust of citizens and investors alike. The ECCB has never viewed its mandate as narrowly monetary. In fact, we do have a development objective that should be consistent with our three other objectives, looking at monetary and financial stability. We have consistently engaged on fiscal matters from our collaborative work with the IMF and the Caribbean Development Bank on debt sustainability frameworks for the ECCU member countries to support banking sector reforms, financial sector reforms, payments modernisation, and, more recently, our work on climate-related financial risk through the greening of the Caribbean Financial System Programme. All of those form pillars of our current strategic plan at the ECCB.”
Addressing an audience of Accountants-General, development partners, and public finance experts from across the region, Polius emphasised that the ECCB recognises the vital contribution of Accountants-General to fiscal stability.
“We understand that Accountants-General sit at the heart of this architecture. The quality of government accounts, the integrity of public reporting, the management of fiscal resources, the strength of internal controls are foundational to the fiscal credibility that underpins everything else we do. Over the years, we’ve collaborated closely with Accountants-General, Auditors-General, and budget directors. In fact, here at ECCB, we have standing stakeholder consultations with all of those groups, including our financial secretaries and our heads of policy units within our ministries of finance. So the dialogue on those issues of fiscal and monetary stability are consistently ongoing.”
Polius challenged participants to make regional standardisation an early priority, drive reform, and build stronger bridges with Central Banks and monetary authorities.
“With that connection in mind, I want to pose three challenges to the Caribbean Accountant General Network as you begin your work together. First, make regional standardisation your early priority. The network has rightly identified the unification of public sector accounting principles, procedures, and financial terminology as a core objective. Progress on international public sector accounting standards, adoption, and harmonised reporting frameworks across all Caribbean countries would be transformational for transparency, of course, but for regional comparability and for the credibility of public sector accounts. Second, use your collective voice. One of the network’s powerful assets is its ability to advocate for Caribbean’s interests in regional and international forums and international standard-setting processes, responding to exposure drafts, influencing global norms to reflect the realities of small island developing states. I encourage you to use that voice actively and early. Third, build bridges with central banks and monetary authorities. The fiscal-monetary nexus in our small open economies is particularly strong. Stronger coordination between your offices and institutions like the ECCB will produce better outcomes for our citizens. We see this forum as the beginning of a much deeper partnership.”
Accountants General and public finance experts from across the Caribbean, as well as representatives from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC), and the ECCB, were in attendance or part of facilitating the roundtable.
