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

143 establishment of the Department of Facilities Management in 2000 was intended to rationalise the oversight for services, maintenance, security, the Frank Collymore Hall and the Grande Salle. During 2001, in the face of continuing liberalisation of exchange controls and falling utilisation of the Bank’s Special Schemes, the Exchange Control and ECG Departments were merged to form a new Foreign Exchange and Export Credits Department. Five years later, the Banking and Currency Department was renamed the Banking, Currency and Investments Department, a change that more accurately described its work. In 2011, the Security Section became part of the Governor’s office. After Dr. Worrell became governor in 2009, efforts at change concentrated on the culture of the Bank. A change consultant was engaged to promote the use of emotional intelligence and leadership as a means of transforming the Bank into a more caring, world class organisation. Staff were encouraged to challenge existing structures and processes and the communications strategy was revised and modernised with a heavy reliance on IT. RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT Much of the Bank’s success has resulted from the large degree of operational autonomy which it has enjoyed through the years. The framers of the Central Bank Act clearly understood the desirability of giving the governor the wherewithal to manage without undue interference when they decided that the governor should also be chairman of the Board. This operational autonomy is one of the attributes that distinguishes the Central Bank from other statutory corporations. The early boards of directors contributed to this autonomy by their willingness to delegate authority to the first governor in respect of a wide range of issues. Ministers of Finance and the various governors generally enjoyed a good working relationship. This was facilitated by the presence on the Bank’s Board of the DFEA, the minister’s chief adviser on fiscal matters. The DFEA could sometimes leverage longevity, as in the case of Sir Chapter 4: Maturity, Modernisation and Issues of Governance: 1987 and Beyond