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In 2022, the Central Bank of Barbados celebrated its golden anniversary and marked the occasion with a number of events. These, along with many of its regular activities, made for a busy year for the organisation.
This article is the second in a four-part series that looks back at some of the Bank’s initiatives and activities, both those related to its core objectives of maintaining Barbados’ fixed exchange rate and promoting financial stability; and to its domestic outreach, during the year. Read part one, three, and four.
The Central Bank of Barbados celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 2, and the organisation marked the occasion with a number of events, including a church service at the Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels; an awards ceremony and gala at which it feted many of its long-serving employees; a trivia and games night testing staff and retirees’ knowledge of the Bank; and a free sunset concert in Church Village Green.
The Bank also sponsored a schools’ essay competition, with categories for both primary and secondary school students. The former wrote about “A Day as the Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados,” and the latter explored “The Role of the Central Bank in Barbados’ National Development.”
In a ceremony held later in the year, Queen’s College student Tianna Applewhaite topped the secondary schools’ category, and Xia Greaves-Woodroffe of Wilkie Cumberbatch and Slade Evelyn of St. Winifred’s School tied for first place in the keenly contested primary schools’ section. In his essay, Slade focused on the critical role the Central Bank Governor plays in managing Barbados’ economy, while Xia cast herself as the Governor and identified what about the job appeals to her:
“Making decisions about the finances and the future of my country is what I like best about being in this role. Being a part of the redesign of the banknotes of Barbados was the most exciting project undertaken while I was Governor and to see that we were on our way to launch in a few months was the highlight of my day.”
The Bank also hosted a special 50th anniversary edition of its Caribbean Economic Forum in May. On that occasion, Governor Cleviston Haynes joined his Jamaican counterpart Richard Byles and economist and advisor Marla Dukharan to discuss “How Can Caribbean Central Banks Fight Inflation?”
Also in May, the new polymer banknotes that were first announced in March were unveiled during an official launch event. Octavia Gibson, Director of the Bank’s Currency and Payments Oversight Department and Gareth Evans, Country Director, Currency, at De La Rue, the company that manufactures Barbados’ banknotes explained the rationale for the change and the numerous benefits of polymer, among them that the new notes would last longer and would be harder to counterfeit.
The event featured testimonials from Rosbert Humphrey, Director of Currency Management at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, which switched to polymer in 2019, and Elviston Maloney, Director of the Association for the Blind and Deaf, with whom the Bank collaborated in determining which features to incorporate to assist the blind and visually impaired.
Towards the end of the event, the designs of the new banknotes were revealed with great fanfare and to very positive reviews from the audience.
Given the increased use of e-banking and online shopping since the onset of the pandemic, the Bank brought together a group of cybersecurity experts to discuss “Managing Cybersecurity Threats in the Financial Sector.”
During the 90-minute session, Patricia Rowe-Seale, Director, Enterprise Security, Fraud and Supplier Risk Management, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank; Ryan Greaves: Chief Technology Officer, City of Bridgetown Co-operative Credit Union; and Jason Downey, Vice President of the Barbados Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association, who is also the IT Security, Privacy and Governance Manager for Massy Integrated Retail Portfolio, reflected on recent cybersecurity incidents in the Caribbean, and discussed best practice for individuals, the financial sector, and Barbados.
After having to scale down its summer internship programme in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank welcomed a full complement of interns in June. The students, who are pursuing studies in a range of disciplines, were assigned to different departments across the organisation. The Bank chronicled the progress of four of the students in its “Learning on the Job” series.