WASHINGTON, USA: The Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Agustín Carstens, will visit the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) region from December 5 to 9, 2005, for discussions with senior government officials on the economic performance and prospects for the region. The trip includes visits to four countries in the region -- Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada -- and to the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. Mr Carstens is expected to meet the Prime Ministers, other senior officials, and members of civil society in each of the countries he visits. He will also hold discussions with Governor Venner of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). Mr Carstens will also meet the heads of some of the regional institutions involved in assisting the ECCU countries. In particular, meetings are planned with Mr. Compton Bourne, President of the Caribbean Development Bank, and Ms. Marion Williams, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, who is the Chair of the Steering Committee of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC). These meetings will take place in Barbados. Mr Carstens will be accompanied by an IMF staff team led by Mr. Anoop Singh, Director of the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department. Singh will make a presentation of the economic outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean in St. Kitts on December 7. Reprinted from Caribbean Net News caribbeannetnews.com