interview with a UWI lecturer Dr Henry / CENTRAL BANK GOV

[zuluwarrior]

http://www.i955fm.com/watch-i955-fm-studio-live.html

Interview whit Dr Henry UWI lecturer / Senator all listen to co mess

This interview is based on our central bank governor this is another rushme appointment.

[zuluwarrior]

I was listening to Dr Henry on a other station earlier ,he said at UWI he do lectures in economics, he never saw the
 
JAWALA RAMBARRAN in his class , after the exam the best 50 of the class was posted to his surprize our central bank governer name was there, on enquiries nobody knew how the name got on the list.

From what Dr Henry is saying this man do not have the experience and the know how to be the governer of the central bank also he is not qualified for the job.

[Brownsugar]

I didn't hear the interview.  I tuned in too late but I have heard him in sound bites questioning the appointment of this Central Bank Gov.  He called it the next Reshmi fiasco.  He apparently does not have the experience to hold the office......

[Toppa]

No sacred cows
By Terrence Farrell

The appointment of Jwala Rambarran as Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago is the latest instance of the continuing termitic assault on the institutions of State. It is the latest, but it will not be the last. Those of us who were hoping that this appointment would represent a departure from the Reshmi Ramnarine syndrome evident in the SSA, NGC, CAL, T&TEC, UTT and other State institutions were disappointed, but not surprised.
Our hope was that the critical importance of the role of the Central Bank would be appreciated; that it needed to be led, especially at this difficult juncture, by someone with depth of experience in economic management and policy-making and organisational skills, sufficiently independent to keep the government of the day honest in its conduct of the country's monetary affairs, and sufficiently strong and respected to keep the financial system stable. The hope was also that the new governor would also be able to command the respect of the regional and international financial community, not least among regulators and supervisors.
Our hope was that the process of selection would have been fair and transparent, which is not to say that it needed to be public, though in First World countries, top level appointments are subjected to some form of vetting in the public space, for example through parliamentary scrutiny. The candidate chosen, if drawn from outside the Central Bank, should at the very least be demonstrably superior to internal candidates.
In my estimation, the Bank had at least three very good internal candidates. Shelton Nicholls has been Deputy Governor for ten years, having worked in the Bank before as an economist. He holds degrees in Economics from UWI and his PhD is from the University of London. He is one of the finest quantitative economists in the region with several academic publications, and now has ten years of policy-making experience under his belt. He came from humble beginnings in Tobago, is fluent in French and a man of considerable artistic ability besides.
Alvin Hilaire, the Bank's chief economist, obtained First Class Honours in Economics at UWI and holds a PhD from Columbia University. He worked as an economist at the Bank and then pursued a career at the International Monetary Fund which included several missions and a stint as Resident Representative in Guinea, Africa. He is fluent in French. Hilaire grew up from humble beginnings in East Port of Spain.
Joan John, the current Deputy Governor, Operations has a career in the Bank of over 30 years, has worked as an economist and has run the Foreign Exchange and Banking Operations departments. She has been instrumental in modernising the country's payments systems. She is from Laventille.
Is the appointed Governor a demonstrably superior candidate to any of these central bankers? I do not think that he is. If Michael Mansoor was in fact a candidate, I would have even favoured him over Mr Rambarran (though not the internal candidates) because of the considerable experience he has, because he would have more likely asserted the independence of the Bank and would have had the immediate respect of the business and financial communities.
I take nothing away from Mr Rambarran's credentials as they have been represented in his resume, but he does not in my view measure up to those candidates, if the criteria for selection are experience in policy-making and competence in the skills and abilities required to do the job of Governor.
The Central Bank celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2014. It has a proud history, with foundations ably laid by Alex McLeod, Victor Bruce and Euric Bobb and repaired and strengthened by Ewart Williams over the last ten years. Central banks strive to be oases of calm and reason in the financial system, bulwarks against governments intent on debasing the currency, a voice of caution when the forces of immoderation gather, and a decisive actor when action is required. In my book which chronicled the first 25 years of the Bank's history, I compared the Central Bank to the judiciary in the role that it plays in the economic sphere. It places forthrightness, good judgment and accuracy before political correctness. It speaks truth to power, though not usually in the glare of the media.
But the Bank had suffered its first assault and insult two years ago when the then Minister of Finance foisted a slew of additional directors on the Bank. Not only did it make for the largest board of a central bank perhaps anywhere, but the calibre of the directors appointed paled in comparison with former directors of the central bank such as Algernon Wharton, Louis Blache-Fraser, Frank Rampersad, Patricia Robinson, John Hunt, Eric St Cyr, Elton Prescott, Carlyle Greaves and Frank Barsotti.
It is true that over the years successive governments had poured water into the fine brandy that the Central Bank board is supposed to be. But now the brandy has been diluted to microscopic proportions, leaving a Governor shorn of the wise counsel which is sometimes needed.
This latest appointment, which comes up well short of appropriateness, will I think not be the last such that we will see. Reshmi Ramnarine's appointment was characterised as a "misstep'', but the succession of similar appointments at key institutions suggests otherwise. It suggests that there is an agenda afoot. I am advised that State enterprise directors at an orientation meeting held at NAPA were told that the important quality of a director was "loyalty''. Directors must indeed be loyal, to their companies, to the rule of law, to integrity and to their consciences. I suspect though that the loyalty required is political, and blind loyalty to partisan political agendas could lead to the compromising of integrity, and worse.
The next big target will be the appointment of the President of the Republic. I do not think that anyone took seriously the Prime Minister's suggestion that a third term could be on offer to President Max Richards. In any event I rather doubt that he would be open to it. The appointment of the President unlocks the door to other appointments — judges, chairmen and members of service commissions and "independent'' senators — and will mute any criticism on the misuse of the country's defence force against civil society. These positions are critical given that some as yet unknown proposals for constitution reform will emerge in the next year.
In this dispensation, there are no sacred cows (with due deference to Owen Baptiste). It is open season on our institutions of State. We are afflicted with the Reshmi syndrome as the top positions at key institutions are populated by persons equipped with "Pacific Southern University'' type "qualifications'' (accredited but not credible), while persons with "Columbia'' and "London University'' type qualifications give way. The chaotic state of the University of Trinidad and Tobago shows what can happen as a result of short-sighted, partisan appointments to key institutions. UTT was too young an institution to be able to withstand the assault. The Central Bank may be able to, though its ability to do so when its most competent and experienced personnel leave, raises grave concerns.
Much will depend on the quality of economic decision-making over the next several years. For all of our sakes, I wish Mr Rambarran well. I sincerely hope he maintains and defends the finest traditions of central banking and of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago in particular.
• Dr Terrence Farrell is a former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/No_sacred_cows-162674416.html

[Jah Gol]

He was my lecturer for economics at Lok Jack. He was terrible, probably my worst lecturer - he could not or would not explain what he wanted for exercises or assessments. He does know his econ though, he worked with IMF as well was somewhat of an apologist for them. He noted that the IMF does a great job of providing economic surveillance and technical assistance to countries who need to implement changes to their economic e.g. introduction of VAT. He said countries should do a better job of managing their foreign exchange needs better to avoid asking the IMF for financing. He also noted that countries needed to do a better job of negotiating better packages with the IMF to avoid massive fallout from structural adjustment programmes.  He noted Trinidad and Tobago as being one of the success stories of the IMF as we have never asked them for money again and went on to have more than a decade of uninterrupted growth. Part of the reason for this the team who negotiated the Package including the out-going Governor Ewart Williams did an excellent job he claimed.

Apart from that he written some pieces about the dutch disease and development. This is not a blatant case like the Reshmi Ramnarine one but I agree that he is definitely less experienced and qualified than the other candidates.

[weary1969]

He was my lecturer for economics at Lok Jack. He was terrible, probably my worst lecturer - he could not or would not explain what he wanted for exercises or assessments. He does know his econ though, he worked with IMF as well was somewhat of an apologist for them. He noted that the IMF does a great job of providing economic surveillance and technical assistance to countries who need to implement changes to their economic e.g. introduction of VAT. He said countries should do a better job of managing their foreign exchange needs better to avoid asking the IMF for financing. He also noted that countries needed to do a better job of negotiating better packages with the IMF to avoid massive fallout from structural adjustment programmes.  He noted Trinidad and Tobago as being one of the success stories of the IMF as we have never asked them for money again and went on to have more than a decade of uninterrupted growth. Part of the reason for this the team who negotiated the Package including the out-going Governor Ewart Williams did an excellent job he claimed.

Apart from that he written some pieces about the dutch disease and development. This is not a blatant case like the Reshmi Ramnarine one but I agree that he is definitely less experienced and qualified than the other candidates.
[/quote

Working at the IMF is d norm but he did a brief stint. The good ones like d outgoin Governor did a long spell before he came to be Governor. Not as bad as Reshmi agree wit d Mirror they call him d OJT Governor.

[zuluwarrior]

Persad-Bissessar said she was advised that Rambarran has “an extensive knowledge and experience of contemporary global and economic and financial issues and understanding of the institutional environment of Central Banks and supra national financial institutions.”

This is a quote from our PM and everytime  she use those words she was advised    after that we have problems.

[MEP]

Persad-Bissessar said she was advised that Rambarran has “an extensive knowledge and experience of contemporary global and economic and financial issues and understanding of the institutional environment of Central Banks and supra national financial institutions.”

This is a quote from our PM and everytime  she use those words she was advised    after that we have problems.

Take it from me dat fella and especially he business pardah ....eh bright atall atall but they possess the prevailing and and most important criteria to hold a high post.

[Bourbon]

http://www.tntmirror.com/2012/07/20/fears-at-central-bank-over-ojt-governor

Concerns are being raised by staff at the Central Bank, who fear that heads may roll and two of the country’s best economists could be forced out now that Jwala Rambarran, a former Central Bank employee, has taken his place as the country’s new Central Bank governor.

Well-placed sources at the Central Bank tell the Mirror that it is unlikely that Dr. Shelton Nicholls and Dr. Alvin Hilaire will be prepared to stay on at the bank now that the People’s Partnership has appointed Rambarran to head the institution.

One member of the bank’s management team told the Mirror: “Deputy Governor Joan Charles may stick it out because she has one year to go before she retires, but we do not expect the other deputy governors to stay on and work with a man whom they have no professional respect for and, in the case of Dr. Nicholls, with whom there is bad blood.”

The source added: “We expect that he will be coming in here to pursue the government’s agenda. The problem is that he left disgruntled.”

It is well known that Rambarran was sent on a two-year scholarship by the Central Bank to the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC. Sources say he was sent on what is a fairly routine scholarship that the Central Bank provides for many of its employees. At the time it was thought that Rambarran jumped the cue and was able to do so because he is related to the wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran.

At the time Rambarran was awarded the scholarship, his uncle-in-law Winston Dookeran was the governor of the Central Bank.

Under the terms of the scholarship Rambarran was expected to return and work for the bank for two years. However, upon his return from the IMF he was promoted to the post of senior economist and not chief economist, as he had wanted.

Upset and disappointed by the chain of events, Rambarran left and took up a job at CMMB, as head of research. This was objected to by the bank, including Dr. Nicholls, who was at the time his boss, but Rambarran then went to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan SC, who was at the time in private practice, and Ramlogan wrote a letter to the bank threatening action if they did not release Rambarran, saying the agreement was not enforceable.

Eventually, the Central Bank had to back down.

One senior official at CMMB at the time told Mirror that he had sat in on Rambarran’s first interview and when he (Rambarran) was asked where he sees himself in a few years time, his confident response was, “I am going back to the Central Bank as governor.”

Recapping the story, the official said when he heard the recent appointment, he was astounded.

Sources say the challenge that Rambarran now faces is how is he going to manage his relationship with two deputy governors who in the past were his supervisors as well as the chief economist.

Dr. Shelton Nicholls has been deputy governor for ten years. He holds degrees in economics from UWI and his PhD is from the University of London. He is considered one of the finest quantitative economists in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Dr. Alvin Hilaire, the bank’s chief economist, obtained first class honours in economics at UWI and holds a PhD from Columbia University. He worked as an economist at the bank and then pursued a career at the International Monetary Fund which included several missions and a stint as resident representative in Guinea, Africa. Hilaire grew up from humble beginnings in East Port of Spain.

Central Bank sources also expressed concerns about Rambarran not understanding his role as an independent governor of the Central Bank.

Sources tell the Mirror: “We will not be party to the governor trying to be almost a spokesman for the government. He will have to see that his role is not adviser to the Minister of Finance but rather he is the independent voice of reason.

Jwala Rambarran worked at the Central Bank for 14 years. During his tenure, Rambarran represented T&T as technical assistant in the office of the executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from April 2001 to March 2003.

He is a former Fatima College student and a past government scholar, having attained a scholarship in 1987. He holds a bachelor of science (upper second class) honours degree in economics and mathematics from the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus, and a masters of science (honours) degree in financial economics from the University of London. The bank said Rambarran is a graduate of executive economic and financial training programmes from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the IMF Institute and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

In announcing his appointment last week, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had said, “We need a breath of fresh air, new thinking and the dynamism, which we believe Mr. Rambarran can bring in these very challenging times.”

Mirror contacted the governor’s office and was asked by his secretary to leave a telephone contact and a synopsis of why we wished to speak with him, with a promise that this request would be passed on to the Governor.

Several attempts and messages to Rambarran’s cell phone went unanswered up to press time.

[zuluwarrior]

How far we have fallen

 By Keith Subero



Story Created: Jul 22, 2012 at 10:52 PM ECT
(
Story Updated: Jul 22, 2012 at 10:52 PM ECT )


Former deputy governor of the Central Bank, Terrence Farrell's analysis in the Express of July 17 on the selection of the unknown figure, Jwala Rambarran, as Governor of the Central Bank, I thought was thorough and insightful.
 
He, however, could not have known of my deep, personal feeling of disappointment after I replayed in my mind my meeting with the bank's first governor, Canadian Alexander Mc Leod.
 
I still cherish the learnings from that interview with Dr Mc Leod. There I was, a cub reporter at the Trinidad Guardian, elated at accompanying Raoul Pantin, the paper's respected industrial reporter, to a meeting with Dr Mc Leod at the Treasury Building. I can still see Phillip Rochford, then the bank's corporate secretary, sitting in the room quietly.
 
Dr Farrell caused me to recall further the abundance of talent —trained, experienced and respected—that walked the corridors of the Central Bank, since Dr Mc Leod, and then came the realisation of how far we have fallen.
 
Questions then followed: Where was Larry Howai, the new Finance Minister, during the Cabinet's two-day deliberations on this appointment? Reports later revealed that almost all of the heavyweights of the "Cabal" had a sponsored choice.
 
We know that Jack Warner contacted UWI's Dhanayshar Mahabir, and at least five other names were said to be in the mix. But it is unclear where was Mr Howai, whose contribution to the debate should have been pivotal and decisive.
 
It is understood that he preferred Michael Mansoor, executive chairman of First Caribbean Bank, but there are reports that the Prime Minister ended the discussion after Mr Rambarran's sponsor in the Cabinet made his case, with an absolute ruling, stating that, although the 44-year-old Rambarran did not fit the bill, he should be given a chance.
 
Since then the Government's PR machinery continues, with great difficulty, to spin her argument.
 
"A chance!" one irate senior banker responded last week. "So we reach the stage that monetary policy is like a Quick Pick….we giving people a chance!
 
"I remember that you, Subero, wrote some time ago of the two boards at the Central Bank… the original board, and the second one, the Government appointed; those members still going to night school to understand the bank's monetary policy. Now, this appointment has completed the circle of Government control."
 
Mr Howai's real position on that selection continues in question. I keep wondering about Mr Howai, touted as Cabinet's great find, a financial "wunderkind'' — but within a month he is asked to yield on such a selection. After such a compromise, I wonder how he plans to wear the integrity that the financial community demands of him.
 


The appointment, as Dr Farrell pointed out, fits into the pattern of Reshmi Ramnarine to head the SIA; of CEPEP contractor, Rabindra Moonan as chairman of Caribbean Airlines; of a pipe-fitter to be the High Commissioner to Jamaica; an Assistant Superintendent to head the SSA; the stealth in the appointment of Ganga Singh as CEO of WASA, and the executive and board appointments at National Gas, T&TEC, TSTT and almost every state agency.
 
"I fear that everything… every institution is being cheapened. Appointments are no longer made on merit, because every position is now biddable among the Cabal members." Next comes the office of President, the banker added.
 
Just as Mr Howai is most likely questioning himself this morning, I expect that National Security Minister Jack Warner, as he proposes to make one of his unannounced visits to police stations, is doing the same, but with different questions.
 
Mr Warner, on hearing of FIFA's decision on Mohamed Bin Hammam last week, claimed that he was vindicated and relieved, but after the release of the full statement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, can he still claim that comfort?
 


The court said it did not find Bin Hammam innocent, just that there was insufficient evidence, and it reserved the right to re-open the case. Even more ominous for Warner is the announcement from FIFA's Ethics Committee that it will be probing past allegations, including those about World Cups 2018 and 2022.
 
There must be no comfort for Mr Warner as he is reminded of his words, captured on video, during the meeting at the Hyatt last year, and used in the bribery scandal.
 
Our National Security Minister told the meeting: "When you leave here, our business is our business. That's what solidarity is about. And if anybody has a conscience and wishes to send back the money, I am willing take it, and give it back to him."
 
This reads more like a Corleone family meeting, rather than a meeting among football executives.
 
So it is now over to Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs, who must now complete his investigation, before the FBI comes to town with its own questions on the use of US currency during that meeting.
 
• Keith Subero, is a former Express news editor, has since followed a career in communication
 
and management