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

End Notes 307 108 Ceilings were reimposed on the level of personal, consumer and distributive credit outstanding at financial institutions. 109 For reasons that were not revealed, the minister of finance did not accept the recommendations. 110 Some commentators felt that the interest rate on this loan - 13.625 per cent for 25 years - was onerous. 111 All members of the IMF are required by the Article 4 of the Fund’s constitution to be subject to some examination of their economic policies and prospects every year or two. At this time Barbados was under the bicyclic (or two-year) arrangement. 112 A bullet loan is repayable in one lump sum on the due date. 113 During the confusion over the bond issue, the pro-devaluation lobby wanted to abandon the bond option entirely, devalue the currency and close the fiscal gap through higher taxation. 114 Under the programme, Barbados qualified for resources from the CCFF because it had established that earnings from exports of goods and services from July 1990 to June 1991 had fallen below the expected amounts because of adverse international economic conditions. 115 The NIR was a new concept, not at first transparent to all concerned, which was defined as the foreign exchange holdings of the Bank and Government less outstanding short-term credit and borrowing from the Fund. 116 “Prior actions” refer to measures that are considered appropriate by the Fund and are taken by a country before a request for a programme is discussed by the IMF’s Executive Board. 117 The Bank’s Research Department had initiated public discussion on the VAT when it hosted a seminar on tax reform on March 26, 1992. On that occasion Clyde Mascoll delivered a paper entitled “A VAT or What!” 118 The IMF Weekly Report was renamed the Weekly Financial Report of the Commercial Banks late in 1993 and the Weekly Report of the Banking System in early 1994. 119 Although this was not a management position, it carried some important responsibilities. 120 Yolande Bannister, legal counsel, and Marion Williams, senior adviser, were members of the Senior Management Group. 121 Up to October 1993, the Bank’s in-house adviser on legal matters was known as the ‘legal counsel’.