Furthermore, higher levels of financial integration also enhance competition and reduce the costs of intermediation, thus contributing to more sustainable economic growth. Naturally, the question arises whether this positive reinforcing relationship between financial stability and financial integration also works the other way around – i.e. does financial integration also enhance financial stability?
There are a number of issues which set the OECS apart with respect to interventions that involve the state, the private sector and external institutions and organisations. The first concerns the banana industry in the Windward Islands which brought about a virtual socioeconomic revolution in those islands.