Avinash Persaud to Deliver Keynote on Building Resilience

Barbadian economist Professor Avinash Persaud will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Domestic Financial Institutions Conference, a Central Bank of Barbados and Financial Services Commission hosted event, which takes place on Thursday, June 14, 2018. He will speak on the topic “What Does Resiliency Mean and How Do You Build It?”

Persaud, who is currently advising the Barbados Government on economic matters, is also the Special

Advisor to Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, as that country seeks, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, to rebuild and become the world’s first climate resilient nation.

“The idea of building resilience is an extremely timely one, especially now that we are into the 2018 hurricane season,” said Novaline Brewster, Chief of Corporate Communications at the Central Bank. “We all saw the devastation in several of our sister islands last year and we recognise that these natural disasters have lasting impacts. They have significant effects not only individuals and communities, but also at the national level, especially for countries like ours whose economies are so dependent on tourism. So we felt it was critically important to include a session like this at the conference.”

Brewster revealed that while the conference is by invitation-only, Persaud’s keynote address would be livestreamed on the Central Bank’s website, starting at 8:45 a.m. on the day of the conference. “We encourage everyone to log on and learn what we can do to build the resilience we need to protect our citizens and our economies.”

The Domestic Financial Institutions Conference is an annual forum at which senior officials from the Barbados’ financial sector discuss issues that affect their operations as well as the wider economy. Among the other items on the agenda is the launch of the 2017 Financial Stability Report, which will be published on the same day.