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

Chapter 5: Some Notable Developments 179 excessive Government borrowing from the Bank was to blame. What made matters worse was that some headlines sounded as though some impropriety had occurred. Typical of these were “Missing millions mystery” and “Money mystery: Central Bank should know full facts”. According to the story accompanying the latter, “With the national financial accounts covered in red ink, our Central Bank bowls an attempted googly at the private sector apparently expecting to find businesses on the wrong side of the credit crease.” The issue of credibility was again raised. One article posited that “The Central Bank was once regarded as an institution whose reports and statements were accepted without question and whose accuracy was taken for granted.” Another, with the by-line “Foreign reserves in serious state”, blamed the Bank for “contributing to the confusion surrounding the management of foreign reserves”. So pervasive was the criticism that the Bank issued a statement in an attempt to put the issue to rest. It said that about $53.4 million of the reduction in reserves originated in the public sector, that is, Central Bank, Central Government and state agencies. The Bank’s explanation provided the opportunity for a final piece of negative reporting. One newspaper carried the statement under the headline “Missing millions no longer a mystery; Money not stolen or used illegally”. THE TRADE CONFIRMERS CONTROVERSY The Trade Confirmers Limited (TCL) case also pushed the Bank into the spotlight. When that finance company collapsed in 1987 and was unable to meet its liabilities, several commentators called on the Bank to bail out the depositors. When that request was shown to be impossible to satisfy, the furore intensified and Government decided to hold a public inquiry into the affair. The inquiry took place between March and June 1988 and the official report was completed in November 1988 and published early in the following year. According to the report, TCL was registered on March 31, 1982, under the Companies Act with an authorised share capital of $5 million. The main activities of the company, as outlined in a letter from its