The Minister of Finance and Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Denzil Douglas, has explained that what the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the governments are trying to do in the OECS is to develop into their people, the necessary insights that will serve them in good and bad times.

For Douglas, what governments of the sub-region want for their people is a keener, deeper and sharper understanding of money and the economy. This is required, explained Dr. Douglas, because the better they all understand those ideas, the stronger our families, our islands and our people in the region will become.

The Minister of Finance revealed that one the reasons he so strongly supports Financial Information Month, is that as the Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis, he has a deep and multifaceted commitment to steer his country and its nationals in the direction of responsibility, stability and self-mastering. “I am keenly aware that key to any hope of overall self-mastery is a certain wisdom and sobriety where one’s personal finances are concerned.”

“For too long, individuals with great minds have devoted all of their time to mastering one area of professional expertise or another; while having not the slightest inkling about even the most rudimentary aspects of money management. As a result these individuals often invest a great deal of time learning how to make money, while knowing absolutely nothing about how to keep that money; how to manage that money, or how to make that money grow,” outlined Douglas.

Dr. Douglas was at the time delivering a special media address to official launch the activities for the month-long celebrations which are being organized by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

The FIM was first introduced in 2002 as broad-based and truly national undertaking, designed to serve the interest of the people.