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

145 longest-serving member of the Board, was able to speak with some authority on this matter. During an interview for the Bank’s staff magazine, he is quoted as saying that “successive ministers of finance recognised the critical importance of the Bank and were willing to work within the framework of the legal arrangements in dealing with the Bank and never tried to undermine or use the Bank to achieve political ends.” 83 However, although relations between the Bank and the Ministry have been free of much of the rancour which has surfaced in some other countries, it would be fair to say that occasionally there was some tension. For example, the cooling of relations between the two entities during the mid-1990s, resulted as much from institutional bickering as from a loss of discipline when the stabilisation programme with the IMF ended. SOME VIEWS ON CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE Central Bank Independence has not been a popular topic for discussion in Barbados in recent memory. It was brought sharply into focus on March 27, 1987, in Sir Courtney’s last speech as governor, at the annual meeting of the Life Underwriters’ Association of Barbados. Among other things, he urged the minister responsible for the Bank to “make the constitutional changes that would enable the Central Bank to pursue an independent monetary policy.” While The Nation’s editorial agreed with the governor, the Ministry of the Civil Service quickly issued a statement which argued that the Bank already had as much autonomy as could be expected. When the subject next came under the spotlight, in May 1992, it was the Bank that took the initiative. Independence of Caribbean Central Banks was the topic of a panel discussion that was held during the week of activities to celebrate the Bank’s 20th Anniversary. The panellists were Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, William Demas, Sir Courtney, Lecturer in Economics at the Cave Hill campus of the UWI, Dr. Michael Howard and Deputy Governor, Dr. DeLisle Worrell. Governor King, who chaired the session, said that those who criticised the Bank for Chapter 4: Maturity, Modernisation and Issues of Governance: 1987 and Beyond