By Barb Kachelski, CAE
Credit unions are committed to the possibility of cooperation between people and committed to improving lives, according to The Honorable Peter Phillips, Jamaican acting prime minister and minister of finance. Phillips addressed attendees of the CCCU and CUES International Convention at its opening session Saturday.
The biggest challenge facing Jamaica, Phillips said, is public debt of $8.6 billion U.S., which is 128 percent ratio of debt to gross domestic product. “We need to do all that is necessary to stimulate growth and sustain macroeconomic stability.” To achieve this, Jamaica needs a stable, solid and sound network of financial institutions, and he noted credit unions play a central role, particularly for low and middle income people who may not be served elsewhere.
Jamaica had a financial sector crisis in the 1990s. Phillips explained its resolution involved the crashes of
L to R: Aaron Moses, president of the Grenada Cooperative League; the Honorable Dr. Peter Phillips, Jamaican acting prime minister/minister of finance; and Yvonne Ridguard-Harris, president of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions many banks and financial institutions, and the cost is still being borne today. Prior to the crisis, the ratio was 71 percent; after government intervention to rescue depositors, it rose to 124. “We are still experiencing the costs. A sound regulatory environment would have prevented or mitigated the effect.
“The fact is, we are facing a new regulatory environment globally,” he said. “… Resistance only sets us back … We can’t afford to jeopardize our international standing by not complying.”
Phillips compared the relationship between regulators and credit unions to that of a parent and child. “Regulations are not driven by hostile intent. … What seems to be a hostile message was simply borne of concern.”
He encouraged the audience of more than 600 registrants from 19 countries to make a difference. “The prospects for economic growth and development seen in 1962 (the year of Jamaica’s independence) have not been realized. Our responsibility for future generations is when we commemorate the next 50 years, that observation will not be relevant.
“Your deliberations will help you define the way forward so together we can build upon past successes.”
Barb Kachelski, CAE, is CUES SVP/chief operating officer and a former newspaper reporter.
Read two more articles from CCCU & CUES International Convention.
