The New Central Bank Governnor tells TV6 News that on his first working day on the job today... he made it clear to the bank's staff that his priority is dealing with the issue of foreign exchange.
He says there needs to be a transparent solution that does not breach the confidentiality requirements of the Central Bank.
00:00TV6 News contacted the new Governor of the Central Bank, Larry Hawaii, to find out about his first working day on the job after the Central Bank posted a video on its Facebook page showing his arrival at the bank's offices in downtown Port of Spain.
00:15Governor Hawaii was appointed following the revocation of the appointment of Dr. Alvin Hillier as the Governor of the Central Bank.
00:22Governor Hawaii told TV6 News he was quite impressed with the welcome he received from the Central Bank's staff and said he met with them and spoke with them.
00:41Local business owners as well as individuals in Trinidad and Tobago have had long-standing complaints about access to foreign exchange, U.S. dollars in particular.
00:52In this context does mean that everybody gets the same amount.
00:56What equitable means, in a sense, is that for your needs, you know, we try to meet it in a way that ensures that you don't get everything while other people don't get anything.
01:12And so, therefore, we have to find some kind of a solution that is transparent, which doesn't breach the confidentiality requirements of the Central Bank, and which, you know, allows everybody to at least get some measure of what they're looking for.
01:34Governor Hawaii spoke about the importance of the Central Bank communicating with the public about the issue.
01:40I asked for us to start the process of me understanding exactly how did the distribution patterns work, and therefore, and thereafter, I'll probably look at some kind of consultative process with the public at large.
01:55Not everybody, but a selective group of, you know, perhaps people in different sectors that we could understand what the requirements are.
02:05Governor Hawaii said this process could also involve the Central Bank offering its own suggestions, with the end result being, quote,
02:12some kind of solution that perhaps will help us to go a little bit further in ensuring there's some equity in the way the entire process works, end quote.
02:21Governor Hawaii said that it is not the intention for the Central Bank to breach confidentiality, but there are ways in which it can share the information without being specific to individuals.
02:33Governor Hawaii explained how the Central Bank can share information about foreign exchange.
02:47What we can see, for example, is this is how we will distribute the funds that are available, or not we will distribute, but we expect the banks to be to distribute using this kind of a formula.
03:03And so this retail will get a certain amount, the distributed trades will get a certain amount, manufacturing will get a certain amount, services will get a certain amount.
03:13And businesses that are, you know, large businesses will get more than one million in assets or sales will get so much.
03:23And so basically what you do is you are able to let people know a little bit more about how the system works.
03:32The Central Bank has confirmed that Mr. Hawaii has been appointed as its new governor by the president for a term of five years in keeping with the Central Bank Act.
Be the first to comment