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

Chapter 5: Some Notable Developments 207 The Quarterly Report , with a pale green colour, was first published in June 1974. That issue featured an analysis of the most recent quarterly performance of the Barbadian economy. Thereafter, it was issued every quarter until 1982 when the document was renamed the Economic Review and published three times a year (June, September and December). The decision to discontinue the March issue was taken because it was duplicating much of the information contained in the Annual Report, also published in March. The early issues of the Quarterly Report featured travel by the governor and senior staff, as well as important developments in the public sector. The inaugural issue included the budgetary proposals for fiscal year 1974/75 and the Barbados Development Plan, 1973-1977. These News Notes , as they were called, were discontinued from the June 1986 issue of the Economic Review. Recognising that its newly-acquired status as the main source of economic data in the country brought with it a certain accountability, the Bank put mechanisms in place to satisfy the public's needs for more information. Two additional publications of significance were introduced during the 1970s. In 1976 came the Annual Statistical Digest which provided longer series of monthly, quarterly and annual data than were published in the Economic and Financial Statistics . It had a pale blue cover and also contained data on statutory boards, insurance companies and other financial institutions. The Balance of Payments , whose cover Left to right: early covers of the Annual Statistical Digest, Quarterly Report and Economic and Financial Statistics.