The official currency for St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the Eastern Caribbean dollar, EC for short, and I have laughingly used the phrase, “EC come, EC go!” when paying bills. It’s been the currency of the OECS, (which stands for the Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States) since 1965, when it replaced the British West Indies (or BIWI) dollar. The EC dollar is the local currency for Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis, and is issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central bank based in St. Kitts. Although associate members of the OECS, the British Virgin Islands now use the U.S. dollar as their official currency, and Martinque, being French, uses the Euro.
The late Queen Elizabeth still appears on the EC banknotes and coins because she was the head of state for the above-mentioned OECS countries. Whether King Charles 111 will replace the Queen on our currency is a matter for debate; all states with the exception of Anguilla and Montserrat are now independent nations no longer under British rule, and many feel that a change reflecting this would be in order.
Visitors to Bequia often ask for prices in U.S. dollars which is understandable, and the conversion is easy to calculate because the U.S. dollar is pegged to the EC and therefore doesn’t fluctuate. The bank exchange rate is $2.67, which means $100 U.S. dollars = $267.00 EC. Most businesses on the island will offer a rate of $2.65 mainly because it’s easier to calculate, and that’s the rate I used at Mac’s Pizzeria. My menu prices were in EC dollars, and if visitors didn’t want to do the simple math themselves it was an easy matter to indicate the amount they owed in U.S. dollars.
Times are changing. A lot of new businesses have sprung up on Bequia and some, in particular hotels and restaurants, are posting their rates and menu prices in both EC and U.S. dollars. This doesn’t disturb me at all; it’s convenient to those unfamiliar with our local currency, and with the growth of tourism on the island it makes sense. American travelers’ cheques seem to have disappeared with the growing use and acceptance of credit cards, and the credit card transaction slips often display both currencies. That’s fine too as long as BOTH currencies, along with the exchange rate used, are clear to the customer.
Something that DOES disturb me is when a restaurant on Bequia prints its menu in U.S. dollars only – it simply isn’t right. The country is St. Vincent and the Grenadines, not the United States of America, and I feel that the local currency should be acknowledged. The menus should be in EC dollars, and, if the U.S. dollar equivalent is also posted, the conversion rate being used by the business ought to be clearly displayed. Perhaps I’m being nit-picking, but I find it rather disrespectful when a business on the island ignores the fact that this little country has its own currency.
When I say, “EC come, EC go” I don’t mean that our currency should vanish – it’s just a way of saying it disappears quickly when paying bills!