Former Governor is the Central Bank of Barbados’ Seventh Distinguished Visiting Fellow

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Winston Cox has returned to the organisation as its seventh Distinguished Visiting Fellow. Cox, who served as the Bank’s fourth Governor from 1997 to 1999, will be in the island for two weeks.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Former Governor Cox as our first visiting fellow since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Novaline Brewster, Director of Communications, Information, and Outreach at the Bank. “As someone with a combination of local and international experience as well as being one of a select group of people who understands the peculiarities of heading a central bank in the Caribbean, he is uniquely poised to provide useful insights and offer practicable solutions.”

In addition to his role as Central Bank Governor, Cox also served as a former Adviser at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, and Alternate Executive-Director at the InterAmerican Development Bank.  He is also a former Director of Finance and Planning in the Ministry of Finance. Since leaving office, he has regularly been called upon by the local media to weigh in on matters related to Barbados’ economy.

Brewster revealed some of the activities that the former Governor will participate in during his visit. “Mr. Cox has already met with our management team and will soon be meeting with officers from our Research and Economic Analysis Department. In addition, he will hold sessions with secondary school students as well as students at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill to discuss the economics profession and the practical application of the theory. He will also be one of the panellists for this year’s lone Caribbean Economic Forum, which takes place on Tuesday, March 26.” The topic of that event will be “How to Achieve Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth for Barbados Over the Medium to Long Term.”

The Central Bank of Barbados’ Distinguished Visiting Fellow programme began in 2014 as a way to expose Barbadians to thought leaders in economics and finance and to bring attention to global developments in those areas. Past fellows include Dr. C. Fred Bergsten, Director Emeritus of the Peterson Institute (2014); Dr. Peter Blair Henry, Dean Emeritus of New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business (2015); Dr. Patrick Honohan, Former Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland (2017); and, most recently, Dr. Linda Tesar, Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan (2019).