Mathurin highlighted several significant enhancements in this census report, including the addition of an infographics section, improved disaggregation of tables, enhanced analytical analysis of key findings, and the inclusion of several CARICOM-recommended tables. He emphasized that the goal is to make the report available to the public as soon as possible.

The Central Statistical Office (CSO) is gearing up to introduce a new index aimed at calculating price data from producers spanning various industries within the economy. Recently, the CSO staff underwent training sessions to facilitate the development of a Producer Price Index (PPI) tailored specifically for Saint Lucia.

The PPI serves as a critical metric, capturing the average fluctuations in the prices of goods and services across different stages of production, including raw materials, intermediate goods, and finished products. Widely recognized as an indicator of inflationary pressures in the economy, the PPI plays a pivotal role, given its ability to reflect changes in producer prices that can ultimately influence consumer prices over time.

“One of the most important things that a PPI is used for is a deflator in the national accounts. The national accounts, the primary measure is GDP, which many people will be familiar with and is the main measure of how an economy is performing. When we measure an economy, we want to do it keeping prices the same. So, we want to eliminate the effects of inflation and the PPI is the way we do that for domestic production.”

Cat Pegler, Consultant and Training Facilitator representing the IMF, emphasized the widespread practice of compiling Producer Price Indexes (PPIs) by statistics offices globally. These indexes offer invaluable insights into trends encompassing production costs, input prices, and price competitiveness. By providing a comprehensive understanding of these dynamics, PPIs empower businesses, policymakers, and economists to make well-informed decisions regarding pricing strategies, monetary policies, and economic forecasts.

“We try to follow international classifications. There is a set of international classifications that define the structure of a PPI. We are always trying to build-in international comparability. So you can compare, producer price inflation in one country with that of another.”

Stephanie Marshall-Constantine, a Statistician with the Central Statistical Office, highlighted Saint Lucia’s pioneering role as the first territory in the OECS Region to compile a Producer Price Index (PPI) for the accommodation and restaurant sectors since 2017. With this training session, the CSO is poised to achieve another milestone by venturing into the compilation of the PPI for the manufacturing and construction sectors in Saint Lucia for the first time.

“For the accommodation, we do it quarterly for the manufacturing and construction, we’re just in the process of producing that price index we are going to do it monthly.”

The overarching goal of the training in Producer Price Index (PPI) is to equip the Central Statistical Office with the capability to initiate data collection for the production of PPI, starting with the manufacturing sector as a priority, and subsequently extending to the construction sector at a later stage.

“It’s less of a training and more of a hands-on workshop. We are reviewing all of the data sets that we might have available that will underpin the PPI, thinking about the methods, and designing questionnaires. So, it’s more of a collaborative piece of work to help develop the PPI.”

While consumers may not directly engage with the PPI in their daily activities, policymakers, businesses, and consumers need to understand and monitor the producer price dynamics for informed decision-making.

The Government of St. Lucia and continued its collaboration with the World Bank in the implementation of the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project. This project aims to deliver a dynamic, inclusive, and safe digital economy requiring a comprehensive ecosystem approach that simultaneously builds on several interlocking foundations namely the: Digital Infrastructure, Digital Platforms, Digital Financial Services, Digital Skills and Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the need for the government to continue its thrust toward digital transformation by providing increased online services to citizens. Coordinated by the World Bank, stakeholders recently participated in the virtual appraisal mission for the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project.

Director of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) Fiona Hinkson, said the appraisal mission provided the opportunity for St. Lucia to incorporate activities into the project that will further support the island’s recovery post COVID-19, whilst strengthening the digital infrastructure in-county and at the regional level.  

“We are now speaking about business continuity and our readiness or even willingness to adopt and incorporate technologies not only for business growth but also to foster resilience that would prepare us for any future shocks like we’re going through right now or natural disasters. This is why this project, the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project is so timely although project preparation began late last year, that is pre-COVID.”

In 2019 the Government of St. Lucia approved the implementation of the DigiGov project which aims to deliver 164 government services via an online platform. Spearheading this project is the Director of Public Sector Modernization, Marlon Narcisse. He said the DigiGov project has gained great relevance with the government having to shut many of its revenue-generating offices during this pandemic. Opportunities for e-learning and for citizens to interact with the government online and vice versa have made the DigiGov project all the more relevant during this COVID-19 pandemic.

“Part of our justification, rather, for our DigiGov platform looking at business continuity with a focus on cybersecurity, natural disasters but we did not anticipate this level of disruption within government’s operations where a virus can literally turn the society upside down, where the government does not generate revenue but at the same time government has to provide services to the public to the citizen. And, we think that with the DigiGov platform, we will be able to eventually continue operations of government in spite of these types of situations in the future. “

In response to COVID-19, Nacisse indicated that the World Bank is in support or an initiative to strategize the implementation a Health Surveillance System. He highlighted the three main components of this system which include the integration of the health management systems with the border management systems, the development of contact tracing applications and a tele-triaging functionality to support frontline staff, clinicians, and doctors to respond to individuals who are either in quarantine or isolation.

“The Caribbean Digital Transformation Project has four main components, the first being the digital enabling environment where we look at the legal framework for e-government also the telecommunications framework that would facilitate our broadband policies and strategies as well as how the government would support open access to networks across St. Lucia. Secondly, we’re looking at digital government infrastructure platforms and services which will focus on cutting edge enablers for digital government operations and services. And, again this is where we see this health system can be funded. Also looking at government productivity platforms and citizen-centric digital services, again this component we see as supporting the DigiGov project which is already in train.  And, thirdly we’re looking at digital skills, where technology adoption and entrepreneurship will focus on building digital skills now for the future.”

The fourth component of the project focuses on project implementation, support, monitoring, and evaluation. The project is expected to be approved in June 2020. Beneficiaries of the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project include St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Dominica.

The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, with support from the Government of Canada to develop a modern secured transactions framework to enable increased access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) using movable assets as collateral. Research indicates that approximately 70% of a firm’s wealth is concentrated in its movable assets such as equipment, inventory and account receivables.   

In a bid to improve access to finance for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and St. Lucia’s ease of doing business ranking, the Government of St. Lucia is moving to introduce legislations under the “Security Interests in Movable Property Bill.” Access to finance had been a long standing issue for the private sector particularly SMEs. Last week representatives from the banking, finance and legal sectors alongside government officials participated in a two-day workshop on Secured Transactions and Collateral Registry. Permanent Secretary in the Department of Finance, Cointha Thomas highlighted that the lack of access to finance inhibits a firm’s competitiveness and productivity, its ability to expand its operations and provide much needed employment.

“This initiative with the IFC/World Bank Group will allow businesses to access financing using their moveable properties or assets such as equipment, vehicles, inventory, receivable and others as security/collateral for loan financing.  This is important as 70% of a firm’s wealth is said to be concentrated in their moveable assets. To support this initiative a legal framework and a registry system will be put in place for providing credit using moveable assets.”

The International Finance Corporation works with governments across the globe to develop frameworks that allow borrowers to obtain loans by using their collateral resources to help create new alternatives for SMEs to obtain financing. Elaine MacEachern is the Senior Financial Sector Specialist with the IFC.

“Approximately 57% of the firms in St. Lucia have access to finance challenges. Only 24.5% of those firms have a bank loan or line of credit and 98% of those loans to small and medium-size firms require collateral over 1.9 times the load amount. 13% of those companies have credit to finance their working capital and 23% their investments leaving SMEs largely to self-finance their operations and obviously this impacts cash flow challenges.”

St. Lucia is currently ranked 161 out of 189 economies on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business, getting credit indicator.  However, this ranking is expected to improve with the passage of this new legislation.     

“Once the Security Interest in Movable Property Bill is tabled and approved by parliament, the design and the development of the collateral registry will be the next step in creating the enabling infrastructure to increase access to credit for SMEs.”

Partner at Grant Thornton, Richard Peterkin, said though the piece of legislation is very technical and many persons may not initially grasp the concept it can increase access to credit for SMEs.

“We are close to getting a bill from what I see and that’s good but like everything else in life getting the bill is just the first step. The ability to establish that registry which would list all the assets allow users to go online and see whose got what, what security is there, it’s going to be a tough task but I am glad to see that the World Bank and NCPC and the Government of Canada are working with the Government of St. Lucia to make this a reality in the not too distant future. I think in many instances there are bits and pieces of legislation we still need as well. One of them is the insolvency act which again we have a bill but it’s not being passed and without that the lenders are not really going to get into lending to movable assets so we need a numbers of things that have to change over the next year or so in order to open up our markets to new types of products that will allow transactions to flow and finance to be available to those who traditionally have a problem getting it.”

Business Development Officer for Axcel Finance, Mervin Agiste, said this bill aligns with his company’s model of credit financing.

“It is off course heartening to see that everything is coming into place through legislation and off course institutionalization, so Axcel Finance with definitely continue in the path that it has been to ensure that our small businesses continue to grow through the use of movable assets to secure their financial stability.”

Irvin Springer, Business Development Manager at 1st National Bank, indicated that the passage of this Bill with go hand in hand with a new initiative his bank is pursuing.

“We’re actually going to be launching a SME Competency Centre in the coming weeks which will be providing products and financial services to the SME sector so the secure transaction bill now being passed will actually enhance this effort because one of the biggest challenges faced by SMEs is the inability to provide security for credit.”

The IFC is hopeful that other member countries of the currency union will be motivated by St. Lucia’s advances and consider making this solution a regional one. The two-day workshop was held at the Finance Administrative Centre November 5^th to 6^th, 2019.

The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council launch Productivity Awareness Week today with an official ceremony at the Finance Administrative Center, Pointe Seraphine, Castries today, 15 October 2018.  The launch was followed by displays of innovative projects by both the public and private sectors.

The project has the objective to enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness, and foster sustainable economic growth in Saint Lucia.  The project will define a National Competitiveness Agenda that reflects consensus between the public and private sectors and civil society; build capacity within key institutions such as NCPC and the Department of Innovation; and support the implementation of priority business climate reforms detailed in the Agenda.

This project deepens the successful partnership that the Government of St Lucia and Compete Caribbean have cultivated to improve competitiveness and the Country’s business climate. During phase 1 of Compete Caribbean, this partnership produced the NCPC and the Commercial Court.

“The Compete Caribbean Program is one of the best initiatives implemented in recent times, it has the potential to transform and enhance the region’s competitiveness. St. Lucia benefited from funding assistance from CCPF through the establishment of the NCPC. Since then, issues surrounding productivity have taken centre stage.” said Fiona Hinkson, Executive Director of NCPC.

Dr. Sylvia Dohnert of Compete Caribbean reflecting on the organization’s support to Saint Lucia explained that “Compete Caribbean is much more than providing financing for projects. We are about dialogue with national stakeholders to promote improvements to the approach to private sector development; supporting transformative reforms; and establishing and strengthening institutions capable of sustaining the change momentum beyond Compete.  We appreciate working with the Government of Saint Lucia because a strong partnership is a prerequisite to, and the most critical ingredient for, the success of any Compete-supported initiative”.

This assistance will be funded by  the Inter-American Development Bank through the Compete Caribbean Facility in the amount of USD200,000; and by the Government of St Lucia that will provide contributions in cash and kind of US$140,000.

The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council was established with the aim to  identify the key issues related to competitiveness and productivity in St. Lucia as well as provide timely and effective recommendations to policy makers, private sector and other stakeholders. The council intends to do this through research, broad based stakeholder consultations, providing technical assistance, coordinating and assisting in strategies that will enhance and sustain Saint Lucia´s  productivity and competitiveness.

The Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF) is a private sector development facility that delivers innovative and practical solutions that stimulate economic growth, increase productivity and foster innovation and competitiveness. We work in 13 countries across the Caribbean region. CCPF is a partnership between the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

‘I Am Saint Lucia’, the theme chose for Saint Lucia’s 39th independence anniversary, is one which evokes feelings of pride and patriotism. It calls us to re-examine what it means to be Saint Lucian. It calls us, the ‘Sons and Daughters of Saint Lucia’ to ‘love the land that gave us birth.’

As we celebrate 39 years of independence under the theme ‘I Am Saint Lucia’, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council extends warm and patriotic wishes to the Government and People of Saint Lucia.

Happy Independence Day Saint Lucia!

#saintluciaindependence #saintlucia #iamsaintlucia #ilovesaintlucia #saintluciawelove #39yearsandcounting #lucianpride #thelandthepeoplethelight #sonanddaughters #758

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Productivity Matters- February 2018