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

168 RELATIONS WITH THE PUBLIC Overview From early in its existence the Bank recognised the importance of good public relations in carrying out its mandate. In June 1972, the Board outlined the Bank's views on public relations policy, vesting responsibility for this function with the governor and identifying the various publics the Bank had to serve. The guidelines stipulated that the Governor should avoid off-the-cuff remarks, wherever possible use a press release or carefully-worded statement and that information emanating from the Bank should be educational and not promotional. At first, Governor Blackman carried out the public relations function by himself, but in 1975 Jennifer Field was recruited to provide some support. On November 21 of that year, the public relations effort was enhanced by the opening of the Chart Room by Prime Minister Barrow. The Chart Room was the name given to the brightly-coloured graphs of economic and financial data, housed in the Bank’s Board Room, that helped to enliven press conferences and other presentations. During 1977, the governor started to make quarterly presentations on domestic economic developments to commercial banks, businessmen, trade unions and Government officials. These early sessions clearly helped to enhance the Bank’s public image, for in 1977 Prime Minister Tom Adams could write, in a message marking the Bank’s fifth anniversary, that Long-serving Public Affairs Officers, Carl Moore and Novaline Brewster.