FORMER Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Winston Cox, is among three candidates seeking to lead the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for the next five years.
Cox, who stepped down in June as the Caribbean’s executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, was nominated by the Barbados Government.
The other two candidates are the current president, Dr Compton Bourne, who is being backed by Guyana, and Dr Warren Smith, a vice-president of the regional financial institution.
He was nominated by Jamaica, his birthplace.
“We have three highly qualified professionals with good track records seeking the position and it’s going to be interesting to see who wins when the bank’s governors meet perhaps before the end of the year to select the president,” said a source in Washington.
“Cox has performed well in international financial institutions, including the IDB, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, but a lot would depend on the support Barbados garners for his candidacy from within the borrowing member-countries.
“There is a recognition that the CDB has been well managed ever since its founding and it has a stellar reputation on Wall Street as reflected in its excellent credit rating.
“But there is also a growing feeling the bank needs to change its loan policy so that it can help Caribbean countries, especially as the OECS, Jamaica and Barbados battle the devastating fallout from the global financial and economic crisis,” the source added.
“The CDB should have moved more aggressively years ago to change from a predominantly project-lending stance to one of policy-lending and that would have put it in an excellent position to assist its members even more during these very difficult times. That’s going to be a problem for Dr Bourne as he campaigns for a third five-year term.”
Sources in and out of the CDB in Barbados and in Washington said the campaign for a new president had split the region, with some of the OECS countries supporting Bourne and others backing either Cox or Smith.
Trinidad and Tobago had reportedly not indicated its choice.
