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

208 was bright red, was first published in 1977. This included much-needed details on Barbados's external transactions and drew on data available within the Bank and other public sector bodies as well as from the results of a survey of major business establishments, international agencies, government departments and non-profit organisations. 101 The successful publication of these documents required a great deal of planning and from early the Director DeLisle Worrell established production schedules for the technical work as well as for the printing and distribution. This process even embraced the choice of the cover for the Annual Report . Muriel Saunders was a driving force behind the effort to build the statistical database. She had honed her skills at the East Caribbean Currency Authority and could call on contacts at each banking institution. During her long stint in the department (1973-1999) she was ably assisted by Norene Trent, Nola Bynoe-Mayers and Celeste Wood. On Saunders’ retirement, she was succeeded by Wood who had dedicated much of her time to modernising the system and enhancing the collection of statistics on debt. During 2010, there was a major change in the way the Bank presented statistical data. An online database was launched and statistics made available at any time in downloadable format that was more conveniently accessible. Individuals downloading the data were also able to choose variables by selecting the time period of interest and/or the preferred frequency, i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually. The statistics covered the more than 600 variables that were previously Left to right: Muriel Saunders, Nola Bynoe-Mayers and Celeste Wood.