LATIBEAUDIERE
BANK OF Jamaica (BOJ) governor, Derick Latibeaudiere, is set to be re-appointed for a third term in the job when his current contract expires at the end of July, senior administration officials suggested yesterday.
The BoJ governor was himself confident of his continued presence in the job.
"It has not crossed my mind for one minute that there is an issue," he said. "There are absolutely no issues."
Latibeaudiere's boss, the Finance Minister Dr Omar Davies, stopped short of saying that the governor's re-appoint-ment was a foregone conclusion, but left little doubt of his view that the BOJ's chief had done a good job since his controversial re-appointment five years ago.
"I have no quarrel with the governor," Davies told Wednesday Business.
"It (Latibeaudiere's contract) is not an issue that has come up," said Davies, adding that the end of July was "still a long way away".
SATISFIED
Nonetheless, the minister declared himself "satisfied" with Latibeaudiere's performance, a view largely echoed by financial sector analysts and managers.
"People were a little p...ed with the governor and the Bank of Jamaica for the massive increase in interest rates in the first quarter of 2003, but generally the governor and the bank have done a good job," one analyst who regularly track's the central bank's action told Wednesday Business.
However, analysts noted that despite Davies' positive assessment of Latibeaudiere, his re-appointment would have to be ratified by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and the Cabinet. It was unlikely, however, that Simpson Miller would, at this stage, wish to upset Davies' economic team that has won the confidence of the local business sector and the international money markets.
"I would doubt very much whether the minister would want to change his team at this time," said financial analyst Colin Steele.
Latibeaudiere became central governor in 1996 following the stint of the French Canadian Jacques Bussieres who led the BOJ during the early chaotic period of foreign exchange and wider market liberalisation.
But Latibeaudiere's near $9 million pay package was caught in the so-called public sector fat cat salary. At the end of the decade his re-appointment of governor was further shrouded in controversy when some members of the BOJ resigned in a quarrel over transparency issues. At the time the governor was the chairman of the BOJ's board, a situation that has since been changed.
