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

27 The Secretariat The Secretariat was in place from the beginning. This department assisted the governor and general manager in preparing for Board meetings, implementing Board decisions, establishing administrative guidelines and overseeing the general management of the institution. In addition, the Secretariat handled the functions usually entrusted to a personnel department, such as interviewing candidates and making arrangements for recruitment. The Secretariat was also responsible for staff welfare, security, the messenger and maid service, contracts, communications and managing the Bank’s property. Kenneth Brathwaite, who acted as bank secretary, was a UWI graduate who had joined the public service in 1955 and worked since 1966 in the Administration, Budget and Exchange Control sections of the Ministry of Finance. It was Brathwaite who opened the Bank's administrative offices on the morning of May 15, 1972. The first person to be permanently appointed to the position of bank secretary was Herman Brathwaite, in July 1973. He vacated the post at the end of 1974 and was succeeded by Neville Smith, who held the position for the remainder of the early period. Accounts The other department to be established during 1972 was Accounts, when Calvin Springer was recruited for the post of accountant on December 4. 23 Before joining the Bank, he had held the position of chief accountant in the Ministry of Finance. During 1973, emphasis in the Accounts Department was placed on developing a complete system for the maintenance of central accounts and budgetary control in time for the commencement of full-scale banking operations in December of that year. When banking operations started, the Accounts Department took over the Treasury Account (the main Government account) from the commercial banks. This was in keeping Chapter 2: The Early Years: 1972 - 1975