Antigua and Barbuda will formally hand over the Chairmanship of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank's (ECCB) Monetary Council to the Commonwealth of Dominica on 9 July 2026. According to Antigua News Room, the official Handing Over Ceremony will take place at 5:00 p.m. at the Trafalgar Ballroom, InterContinental Dominica Cabrits Resort.
The chairmanship passes from the Honourable Gaston Browne, Council Member for Antigua and Barbuda, to the Honourable Dr Irving McIntyre, Council Member for Dominica. The Monetary Council serves as the ECCB's highest decision-making body and comprises Finance Ministers from each of the bank's eight member governments.
The chairmanship rotates annually in alphabetical order among ECCB member countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
A centrepiece of the ceremony will be the unveiling of a new family of EC banknotes and coins, marking the 50th anniversary of the EC dollar's fixed exchange rate peg to the United States dollar.
The redesigned currency follows a decision made at the Monetary Council's 105th Meeting on 21 July 2023, when members approved the removal of the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II from EC currency and directed the ECCB to conduct public consultations. Those consultations, held between July and December 2023, revealed strong public support for featuring national heroes and nation builders on the new notes and coins.
The Handing Over Ceremony will be streamed live on the ECCB Connects Facebook page and YouTube channel.
