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

Chapter 5: Some Notable Developments 183 countries. All other governors got opportunities to speak to foreign audiences on a variety of occasions. Governor Springer addressed the Johnson and Higgins Annual Client Conference in Toronto, Canada, in 1993; Governor Cox spoke to the Curaçao Trade and Industry Association in 1997; and Governor Worrell gave remarks on the importance of international financial centres at a breakfast meeting with the managing director of the IMF in 2010. Between 2012 and 2014, Governor Worrell also made several presentations on economic developments in Barbados to IMF staff and other participants during the Spring and Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank. Seminars and conferences Seminars and conferences were popular avenues for engaging the public on issues of topical interest. During the early days of the Bank’s existence these presentations were made mainly by Governor Blackman, Director of Research Dr. DeLisle Worrell and Adviser Winston Cox. However, as time went on the economists, staff from other departments and non-Bank personnel addressed these gatherings. The audiences included government officials, bankers, academics, students and businessmen. The first seminar held by the Bank, on consumer credit, took place in August 1972 and attracted participants from the UWI and the Ministry of Finance. When the Bank’s Chart Room was opened in November 1975, George McKinney, chief economist of the Irving Trust, gave a talk on Prospects for the US Economy . During the early 1980s the number of seminars Former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, making a presentation in the Frank Collymore Hall in 2012.