Both Sides of The Coin: The Story of The Central Bank of Barbados 1972-2017

10 Secondly, the Government had also decided to seek membership in the IMF, thus becoming eligible for technical assistance with the establishment of the Central Bank. To this end, Neville Osborne (later Sir Neville), financial secretary, and Charles Skeete, the deputy director in the Economic Planning Unit of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, visited Washington, D.C., in November 1970, to negotiate Barbados’s membership in the IMF. These deliberations caused some delay in the process. Promoting the Central Bank The proposed central bank became a popular discussion topic in the House of Assembly and elsewhere. On December 8, 1970, during the debate on the Rate of Interest Bill in the House, when the prime minister revealed that he had hoped to have the bank in place by April 30, 1971, J.M.G.M. “Tom” Adams, an Opposition member, raised concerns about the degree of independence which should be accorded to the bank’s governor. Later in the same day, when the Bill for Barbados’ membership in the IMF was discussed, Barrow made reference to the fiduciary issue of the bank. Thereupon, Bernard St. John (later Sir Harold), another member of the Opposition, expressed the view that it was the limitation placed on fiduciary issue under the ECCA arrangement more than anything else that had informed the Government’s decision to withdraw from membership in the ECCA and establish a central bank. On June 10, 1971, Barrow put the case for the formation of the central bank to regional academics. During his welcoming remarks at a monetary studies conference at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), he took the opportunity to outline the philosophy that influenced his thinking on the issue. The prime minister’s address revealed his understanding of the importance of the financial system in the development process and the role which a central bank could play. He said,