Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Ignites Controversy For Spending $22 Million on Official Mansion for Governor

Uproar is brewing in the Eastern Caribbean Credit Union (ECCU) as news that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has doled out XCD$22 million (USD$8.15  million) on an official residence of the bank’s governor. Timothy Antoine, a Grenadian, has held that position since 2016.  The official residence is being constructed in St. Kitts and Nevis, where the bank is headquartered. It is reported that the massive structure is near completion.  A February 17th, 2025 letter addressed to Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne, the chair of the ECCU Monetary Council, from Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has since entered the public domain. Mr. Gonsalves wrote that he had been informed of the “extraordinary sum of $22 million” and considered “this act of excessive spending an outrage.” Mr. Gonsalves accused the bank’s governor of “insufficient transparency” and deemed the expected oversight of the ECCB, its board of directors and the ECCU Monetary Council “below acceptable [of] pru...