Incoming Governor of the Central Bank, Dr.Kevin GreenidgeThe Honourable Prime Minister Mia Mottley
It is official, the appointment of the youthful Kevin Greenidge was officially released yesterday. It ended weeks of speculation by the usual suspects an African was shoo-in to take the post.
◦ Set and implement the monetary, credit, and other financial sector policies ◦ Provide central banking services to the government and financial sector ◦ Develop the financial sector and enhance confidence therein
It is fair to say in the context of Barbados the Central Bank and previous governors have been slaves to government’s directives with the exception of the widely influential Dr. Courtney Blackman. Who can forget the term popularized by Blackman that the position of Governor of the Central Bank “is a creature of the minister of finance’.
The word from that institution central to the Barbados economy on Spry Street is that the teetotalling ” Little Big Cheese” who took over the operation just before the change of government has most if not all the senior male employees in the organization in his bad books as he appears to have difficulty in relating to them and has been making life difficult for most of them, prompting some to take early retirement. The LBC seems to prefer to surround himself with members of the opposite sex and enjoys jovial and often exceptionally friendly relationships with them. Some insiders say that this is a Napoleonic complex as he seems to feel challenged by the guys and as a result he allows the girls to get away with murder and do as they like with his backing.
Word on the street is that if you are looking for a job at this institution the way in is to come on as a temp and then “wiggle” your way around on the top floor and sooner or later you will catch the eyes of LBC and a permanent position will be created for you.
Others are saying that LBC is unable to make decisions and is very poor at dealing with people, which has the organization heading for disaster and that the situation is worse than under the last ball head Doctor who even though he had his faults, was able to make decisions and had some ideas.
The words of a recently retired number two, who is now trying to sort out the public transport sector, still ring true. At a retirement function he said “the bank has lost its way“.
A key element that contributed to brand Barbados was the respect locals and those afar held for key institutions. The blogmaster points to the Central Bank of Barbados as one of those institutions.
Under the leadership of the former Governor the reputation of the Central Bank slipped to a level that was embarrassing. From performing a statistical analysis which challenged the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS) the agency recognized in law to supply statistical analysis on the economy, to banning media personnel from press briefings, to authoring gimmicky PR campaigns to sell government guilt edge paper to list a few non redeeming activities.
Given the lack of confident the Central Bank of Barbados has suffered, particularly in the last 10 years- what Professor Tumusiime-Mutebile had to say at the hosting of the parliament of Ghana Finance Committee Members meeting the blogmaster found instructive.
It is a short speech, here are a few salient points:
In 1995 the Constitution was changed to confer independence on the Bank of Uganda i.e.“In performing its functions, the Bank of Uganda shall conform to this Constitution but shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority.”
Key bodies within parliament provides oversight 1. Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises AND the Public Accounts Committee. The annual report and audited accounts are submitted by the Auditor General to the Speaker of Parliament who may exercise discretion by recommending them to a special committee of parliament.
Staff of the Central Bank, including the Governor, are asked to routinely appear before the special committees of parliament to answer questions about bank operations or elucidate on economic and financial issues
Acting Governor of the Central Bank, Cleviston Haynes
The Barbados economy registered an uneven performance during the first half of the year. Preliminary data suggest that the expansion in real economic output continued into the second quarter, primarily reflecting sustained growth in tourism activity. The fiscal deficit narrowed moderately in the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2017/18, partially the result of the fiscal consolidation measures implemented in the previous fiscal year. However, the stock of international reserves fell below 10 weeks of import cover, owing in part to expected external debt service obligations and the on-going delays in securing planned foreign investment inflows. The context for this outturn is that the Barbados economy has underperformed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, as evidenced by low growth and significant fiscal and external imbalances. The Government of Barbados has, particularly since 2013, sought to contain the fiscal deficit through a range of tax and expenditure measures, but the fiscal deficit has remained stubbornly high. Over the three preceding fiscal years, the fiscal deficit has been out of line with available financing as access to financing on the domestic and international capital markets weakened, resulting in a sharp increase in accommodation from the Central Bank.
Dr. DeLisle Worrell, former Governor of the Central Bank
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart
Denis Kellman, Minister of Housing
Today I intended to write about the functioning, or rather, the non-functioning of the system that was set up by the Employment Rights Act to settle disputes, particularly claims for unfair dismissal. I wanted to point out that it is at best amateurish and that it is failing miserably to meet expectations. But I felt a tug that forced me to weigh in on the furore caused by the reported attempt by the Minister of Finance to remove the Governor of the Central Bank from office.
In the fullness of time, the courts will settle the legal aspects of the matter and I will patiently await that eventuality. However, at this point, I am more concerned about the potential loss of any residual investor confidence that might still be remaining after the series of seventeen downgrades of this country’s credit rating.
As a Barbadian, no matter your political persuasion, no one should be happy to see this embarrassing saga being played out in the public domain. Not so long ago, it was being said internationally that Barbados was punching above its weight. Now I seems that this country is reeling from some head blows inflicted as a result of the poor performance of the Government over the last nine years, and now this? Can Barbados take anymore?
In 2008 the Democratic Labour Party took on the burden of the government of this country as neophytes for the most part. Unfortunately, after nine years in office, they have steadfastly maintained that neophyte quality as though their nine years in office has taught them nothing. They have presided over the affairs of this country with a reverse Midas touch that seem to destroy everything in their wake. Now it seems that they have set their deadly aim on the Central Bank as the next institution targeted for destruction.
So far, the Minister of Finance has quite rightly not made a public statement on the matter. Instead, some of his colleagues have intervened with unhelpful remarks that only goes to confirm that Cabinet is in total disarray.
The Barbados Today of Friday, February 17, 2017 reported that Minister of Housing, Denis Kellman, while addressing a gathering of party faithful earlier that same day, suggested that the decision to fire the Governor of the Central Bank was for the “greater good”. He went on to suggest that while Worrell may have been successful so far in blocking all attempts to remove him, the Freundel Stuart Administration was not backing down. That report suggest that Minister Kellman is privy to the inner workings of the Ministry of Finance on this issue.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, in his all too familiar nonchalant approach to the affairs of state, was reported to have said something markedly different in the Daily Nation of February 21, 2017. He was quoted as saying:
“I am not in any position to comment on whether the Government’s confidence in the Governor of the Central Bank underwent any change, because I preside over the Cabinet of Barbados and at no time has the issue of the Governor’s relationship with the Government come up for consideration”.
He went on to state that he has not made himself privy to all that has been happening, and I accept that as the Prime Minister is an honourable man. But I think that I must ask: since the Prime Minister did not make himself privy to the happenings, Did someone make him privy? If the answer is “no”, it would certainly seem that the Prime Minister is definitely not in control of his Cabinet and worse yet, Kellman is more informed than he is. Perish the thought, say it isn’t so!
Jeff Cumberbatch – Chairman of the FTC and Deputy Dean, Law Faculty, UWI, Cave Hill
Wonderful to relate, or “mirabile dictu”, as my two Latin masters of long ago, Messrs. Wellington and [CQ] Williams, would have preferred, I do not find it necessary today to resume my analysis of the Trump presidency; a phenomenon that seems anyway to be imploding towards self-destruction. Moreover, there is sufficient drama being played out in our own front-house to provide adequate fodder for the hebdomadal columnist.
The coup de théâtre of the week has been the denouement of Barbados’s seemingly intractable economic woes being played out in the courts, where the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr DeLisle Worrell, is resisting the attempt of the Minister of Finance to dismiss him from office. To the time of writing, Dr Worrell has managed to secure two injunctions to retain the office; one, by an interlocutory ex parte application last weekend when Worrell J would have enjoined the Minister not to act further on his alleged mandate to Dr Worrell to “resign or be dismissed”, and the other at yesterday’s vacation of that order so as to permit recourse to the local Court of Appeal.
Not having had access to the texts of any of the decisions in the matter so far, I propose to reserve detailed comment until after the judgment of the Court of Appeal, but for those who are querying the appropriateness of injunctive relief in a matter of this nature, the law’s attitude appears to be evolving. Time was when the law set its face firmly against the grant of specific relief to restrain an alleged wrongful dismissal at common law. The several bases of this stance were first, that damages for the dismissal would ordinarily constitute an adequate remedy in the circumstances; second, that the court would be unable to supervise the performance of the contract if it were allowed to continue; third, the substantial potential for oppression, of the employee especially, if he or she is required to maintain a contract involving the supply of personal services and fourth, the need for the parties to maintain the metwand of any contract of service; mutual trust and confidence. Otherwise the order would have no purpose and, according to a celebrated maxim, “Equity (the Law) does nothing in vain”.
However, in recent times, perhaps owed largely to the advent of the concept of unfair dismissal that has at its base the notion of re-employment (reinstatement or re-engagement) as a remedy, the courts have become much bolder or less reluctant in granting specific remedies against employers, most commonly though where the employee is entitled to the benefit of a contractual procedure such as a hearing, where there is no lack of confidence in the employee by the employer, or even, more controversially, where no good reason for the termination has been established by the employer.
I am of course, not privy as to precisely which, if any, of these considerations influenced the judicial decision to enjoin the Governor’s dismissal nor am I aware whether the determination of who indeed was Mr Worrell’s employer entered into the entire debate. This resolution is critical to ascertaining whether or not he is entitled to protection against an unfair dismissal, since the Employment Rights Act, by virtue of section 51, does not bind the Crown or apply to its employees but does to statutory corporations such as the Central Bank.
What is even more serendipitous is that last year I penned a piece in another space in this newspaper that took as its point of departure the dismissal of Dr Worrell’s counterpart in Trinidad & Tobago by the then incoming Rowley administration. Although court action was threatened in that case as well, I am not aware that it did in fact eventuate. In that effort, I also attempted a comparative analysis of the security of tenure of the local Governor and other officials similarly situated. I wrote then:
“It is notorious and understandable, at least in this region, for Opposition parties to be sometimes harshly critical of the various announcements and prognoses of those Central Bank Governors who have been appointed by the other side. Equally, it is understandable that a governing administration, as the economic policymaker for the State, should command the sympathy and goodwill, if not loyalty, of the head of the nation’s Central Bank. The question that begs asking, however, is whether a Central Bank Governor is truly independent or is it that he or she is merely a creature of the Cabinet and Minister of Finance both in the legal and natural senses of that concept? The answer would appear to lie partly in the security of tenure accorded to that official.
Certainly, few regional Governors would be as sycophantic in their roles as Mr. Gideon Gono, the Governor of the Central Bank of Zimbabwe from 2003 until 2013, who eschewed any claim to independence and saw it rather as a cardinal principle that his policies at the Bank were always consistent with those of President Mugabe. He attributed this to his self-perception as a mere disciple, for whom a key quality was loyalty to his leader.
Similarly, few would lay claim to the awesome autonomy of the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board, an entity whose monetary policy decisions do not have to be approved by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branches; which does not receive funding from the public purse; and whose members’ tenures span multiple presidential and congressional terms.
Unlike the Trinidad & Tobago legislation, the Barbados Central Bank Act does not provide specifically for the manner of termination of the appointment of the Governor, leaving such matters to be as set out in his or her instrument of appointment, although there is, of course, local precedent in the dismissal of Governor Winston Cox some years ago.
It bears remarking that this was written at a time when the employment relation between the Governor and the Minister was as amicable as could be, an observation ironically made by the Trinidad Guardian in a column published last week Thursday under the caption, “Is Barbados insolvent?” and written by Anthony Wilson.
Alluding to the fact that the current contretemps has caught many people in T& T and throughout the region by surprise, the author reasons:
“That’s because anyone who has seen the two men interact at the several investor forums that Barbados has held in Port of Spain, and elsewhere, over the past few years would have come away with the impression they had a close working relationship based on mutual respect, complete policy alignment and the need for them to work together to further their country’s national interest…”
I suppose, as the lady is alleged to have winkingly told the verger in an entirely different context, “Even the best of friends must part”.
2013 Final Electoral Map, the government won by a 2 seat margin
1. Consider this argument. The Central Bank (CB) Governor has refused to print any more money for the Minister of Finance (MOF). The MOF needs printing to continue to pay civil servants and keep Government running. If the Government can’t pay the civil servants this month, all hell will break loose. Therefore the CB Governor has to be fired so that somebody who will agree to print the money can be appointed. These delays being granted by the High Court are making the MOF nervous. Time is of the essence. But Jeez, if the printing continues, the economy will only get sicker.
2. Foreign reserves are at an all-time low and heading further south, and with the poor tourist season we are now having, not much hope for recovery. The Government can’t even put its hands on the US$100 million from Kyffin for BNTCL in a hurry as that has to go through FTC regulatory process. Let us see if the Government is going to try to railroad the FTC and also what stuff the Chairman is made of.
3. Government can’t borrow externally because of low credit rating and the existing high debt service requirements are continuing to hurt the foreign reserves.
3. Every economist who has said anything (Frank Alleyne has been predictably silent) has told the Government it must act NOW to avoid a disaster, latest being the CDB which has issued a dire warning: “CDB President Dr. Warren Smith is warning there is “no painless way” to rein in the fiscal deficit and ballooning debt.” “But I think it is also important to appreciate that we need action now. The Government of Barbados knows what to do.” “Let me just repeat that we are ready to help but there are certain things that need to be done before the assistance of the multi-lateral institutions like ourselves can become available in a fulsome way. I think that the debt situation is one that needs to be addressed urgently.”
4. The Government’s hand is being forced every way it turns. It must act.
5. BIG Problem. Elections are imminent and the harsh measures required will doom the DLP’s chances of re-election. What would you do? Think like Stuart (and hope not to get a brain freeze). You have to call elections NOW. If you wait any longer, you will be forced to inflict much pain, especially on the civil service and statutory corporations, send home another eight to ten thousand people; you will have to further cut financial support to the QEH and UWI, BWA and SSA; you will have to increase bus fares; you will have to dismantle the community councils and cancel the football tournament and condemn the DLP to the annals of Barbadian political notoriety. A few of the painful pills.
The only hope of survival is to go to the polls BEFORE you are forced to inflict the pain. Tempus is fugiting and the hour must come. Truly between a rock and a hard place.
Submitted by David Comissiong, President, Clement Payne Movement
It is clear to me that the Freundel Stuart Administration is looking for a scapegoat for its 8 year long and continuing abysmal economic performance, and has decided that Dr. Delisle Worrell is to be that scapegoat.
Let us be very clear about this— in the real world of politics neither a Board of Management nor a Minister of Finance fires a Governor of a Central Bank! Rather, any decision of this magnitude would have to be taken by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet of Ministers.
Thus, we should perceive the decision to fire Central Bank Governor Dr. Delisle Worrell as the decision of the Freundel Stuart Administration as a whole rather than as a decision of Minister Chris Sinckler.
This decision only makes sense if it is recognized for what it is— a desperate attempt to conveniently dump all of the blame for Government’s shameful economic failure on the shoulders of a “disgraced” Worrell in the run up to a General Election.
As all Barbadians are aware, Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler and Central Bank Governor Dr. Delisle Worrell have been hand-in-glove partners during the entirety of Dr. Worrell’s tenure as Governor of the Central Bank! So, if there is a reason– on objective grounds– to fire Worrell then that reason must extend to Minister Chris Sinckler as well!
You simply cannot separate the performance and record of Dr. Worrell from the performance and record of Chris Sinckler. So if Worrell must go, clearly Chris Sinckler must go as well. (But that is only if one is making an objective non-partisan analysis of the situation.)
The fact that no decision was taken by Mr Stuart to fire Chris Sinckler suggests that the decision to fire Worrell was a purely “political” decision aimed at providing a convenient scapegoat for the DLP’s failed economic policies.
Barbadians should not permit themselves to fall for this threadbare Machiavellian political trick!
The current DLP Administration has thoroughly disgraced and exhausted itself. It has demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that it has no answer whatsoever to the myriad of problems facing our country. It is long past time for Barbados to be released from this dysfunctional Governmental Administration. What Barbados needs is not a new Central Bank Governor! Rather, we need a new Government!
Perhaps a rewrite of the famous song about Eva Peron is in order with the above sentiments expressed by Barbadians. Clearly the bromance that never was, between the Minister of Finance of Barbados and the Governor of the Central Bank of plotting and overseeing the economic demise of Barbados is over.
Barbados Today reported that the fall out between the Governor and the Minister of Finance was with regards to the Governor’s inability to explain the country’s diminishing economic fortunes and rising administrative tensions within the Central Bank.
Again perhaps the economy has taken its final turn for the worse and is on its official death bed and the dreaded devaluation near. The blame game is underway with the Minister of Finance trying to squarely push the responsibility for failure of the economy on the Governor. The Governor clearly does not wish to be the fall guy. His strange action to avert blame from himself by appealing to the Court of Law against his dismissal is indeed cause for comment.
On one hand we had a governor who was a willing accomplice of this administration at every turn for the last 8 years producing alternate facts in speech, actions and data in support of the policies of the government. It is not that some of his economic policies were successful. He has a long list failures and unethical practices. He sold junk bonds to an unsuspecting public, scrubbed the Central Banks website of data and frequently produced data to paint the economy in a positive light. His action of holding $5 million in the Central Bank for Leroy Parris was illegal. He incessantly printed money, offloaded funds to Bjorn Bjerkham who should never have been appointed to any public board in Barbados. Let us also not forget his attempt to practice nepotism. Then it was the matter of the many economic downgrades that affected the country’s credit rating.
He supported and never admonished the Minister of Finance for his reckless economic onslaught against the people of Barbados. The Governor’s actions not only affected the economy but in extension endangered the livelihood of many Barbadians as it was also indirectly responsible for job loss. He did not perform as a Governor of a Central Bank but as a piggy bank for the Minister of Finance. His actions created capital flight and a scarcity in foreign exchange. Our currency has already been devalued in the eyes of our eastern Caribbean neighbours’ and Guyana.
In another place and another time his actions against the state would be tantamount to treason. This now reminds one of Cardinal Wolsey’s fall from grace when he failed to secure the kings wishes. So what did Mr. Sinckler so desperately want that the Governor could not provide that led to his firing? Was it more than what was stated above?
He has damaged his credibility as a practicing economist and brought shame to the title of Governor of a Central Bank. He sold out the livelihood of the people of Barbados and on reflection the People of Barbados should be taking him to court. His actions are at loggerheads with his profession he has not provided sound economic advice to support the economic growth of Barbados through monetary policy. That is the sole purpose of his job.
No one should be even a bit unhappy to see him removed as Governor of the Central Bank. He is now like a product on the shelf that is long past its expiry date. It will be a sad day if the Court rules in favour of the Governor of the Central Bank as it would be, even at this late stage legalizing the economic death of the island of Barbados by giving an unfit Governor the right to continue to destroy the economy.
The Barbados private sector agency has raised the alarm that their members have had to wait for foreign exchange to be released from commercial banks to honour purchase requests. This is not good news for Barbadians who have had to tighten their belts for eight long years. Have we not been boasting of record arrivals for the last two years? What is happening!
The Governor of the Central Bank warned Barbadians in a document posted to the Central Bank website last week that the country has failed to manage the balance in foreign exchange inflows and outflows since 2013. Based on the Governor’s concern it is safe to assume that our international reserves have fallen from 900.3 million or 14 weeks of imports at the end of the 3rd quarter -to what?
With tourism booming by all account YET foreign reserves falling the solution is to increase tourist arrivals, foreign direct investment AND decrease demand for imports. If the reserves continue to fall we will not be able to defend our peg to the US dollar. The price of oil which has started to increase will not help our cause. Wait a minute -why do we pontificate about tourist arrivals? Should we not heed the advice of the official from Singapore who indicated at a conference in Barbados a couple years ago we must measure the success of tourism by revenue receipts and NOT number of tourists.
With sinking foreign reserves so too will investor confidence on the local and international markets. Several huge investment projects like Sam Lord’s Hotel, Hyatt Hotel, Beaches Hotel, Four Seasons, Marina and others have not started as promised by the government. Whether we agree if the projects should be implemented or not, the inability of the government to mobilize them has affected the plan to inject activity in the economy.
The obvious question is -what next? With a year to go before the next general election one thing we know for sure -the Democratic Labour Party will not have a strong economy to support a campaign message to win votes. BU’s prediction is that this will be one of the ‘nastiness’ general elections since Independence.
We often think that some of the subjects that we took in High School and College are a waste of time and not practical to use in everyday life since we never used them again.
The Governor of the Central Bank Delisle Worrell posted a full colour page in today’s media titled “More Foreign Reserves are not Necessarily Better”, the thesis of which is, “Countries should maintain foreign exchange reserves sufficient to allow time to adjust to the vagaries of international markets, so that banks and traders do not become apprehensive about the value of the currency”.
Sometimes one has to wonder. The media and analysts have been mostly silent to explain reports two 10 million and one twenty five million savings bond issues have been fully subscribed within hours of being floated. The recent decision by the Central Bank of Barbados to remove the regulation to pay Barbadian a minimum savings rate BU suspects […] Continue reading →
Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler and Governor of the Central Bank DeLisle Worrell
In May this year Governor Delisle Worrell issued a directive to ban the Nation newspaper from participating in press conferences hosted by the Central Bank of Barbados. His action provoked wide condemnation from every corner within in civil society. The Governor and Central Bank obviously yielded to the pressure and public expectation reverted to the Governor having his routine press and Q&A sessions or so we thought!
It was a surprise therefore when the media was informed that the regular press conference to cover the six month economic performance review was to be cancelled. To date Barbados Underground has not discern the same level of outcry in response to the decision by the Central Bank compared to when the Nation newspaper was banned. Which is to be condemned more, the short-lived ban imposed on the Nation newspaper OR the cancellation of the press conference that denied the Fourth Estate from interrogating the banker of government at a time when we have more questions than answers.
The feeble excuse offered by the Central Bank and supported by leading media practitioner David Ellis that all press briefings are posted to a website is unacceptable. At a time when a greater level of public engagement is the desirable option, the Governor has chosen to retreat and is happy to limit his public appearances captured in the press to attendance at crop over events.
