Barbados may well have “turned the corner for an improvement in economic performance” and it has the Central Bank to thank.
That’s what Governor Dr DeLisle Worrell has told Central Bank employees, as he hinted that as part of its “major” restructuring this year and eventual redefined role, the institution might end up having “a more central part in the formulation and execution of economic policy”.
“It is the quality of our policy making that has enabled the country to adjust to the challenges of the global economic recession, and to reach a point where we may well have turned the corner for an improvement in economic performance,” he said last Monday morning in a “staff talk” obtained by BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY.
The economist also said the bank “has had the most profound impact on economic policy in this country, and therefore on the lives of ordinary Barbadians, of all walks of life”.
Pointing to what he called “the great visibility of the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the governor of the Bank of England, the president of the European Central Bank and other central bankers in the world’s financial capitals”, Worrell suggested the bank here could not focus solely on monetary policy.
“I have always found the ability to influence policy to the betterment of our society to be the most fulfilling aspect of central banking Superior economic policy is something Barbados has become known for throughout the Caribbean, and it is in no small measure due to the contribution of the Central Bank of Barbados over the years. In the last five years we have further improved the policy making apparatus,” he told staff.
Worrell also urged his team to “also celebrate the upgrading of financial oversight” and their financial stability and supervisory work.
“Once again, this is an area in which we have a long standing tradition of which we can be proud, having maintained our supervision of banks to international standards from the early years of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision,” he said.
“Here again we have made great strides in the lsat five years, with the ongoing capacity building in the Bank Supervision Department, and with the introduction of our Financial Stability Report and updates.”