Business

Gerard Johnson, the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) representative in Jamaica for the past three years, has been promoted to head the institution's operations in the English-speaking Caribbean.

And in keeping with the IDB's new thrust, according to a senior source at the bank, to have more of its managers "active in the field rather than being stationed at the headquarters in Washington", Johnson will maintain his operational base in Jamaica.

"In due course, a new country representative for Jamaica will be named," said the source. "Effectively, Jamaica will become a kind of headquarters for the regional subgroup."

The IDB has as yet issued no public advisory on Johnson's promotion to the job as manager of its Caribbean unit, which came into effect on September 1, but Johnson is in Washington this week consulting with his bosses on his new portfolio.

Johnson, a Trinidadian who spent a substantial part of his early life in the United States and is married to a Jamaican, will oversee the IDB's operations in Jamaica, The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago as well as the member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Critical role

Although the OECS members - Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Montserrat - are not formal members of the IDB, they have access to its resources via the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Johnson has been credited by Jamaican officials with playing a critical role in negotiating the island's US$600-million loan from the IDB, which was contingent on Kingston agreeing to economic reforms under a 27-month standby facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF is lending Jamaica US$1.2 billion.

The US$600 million from the IDB sets a record, the bank said back in March, as the most funds ever issued to a member country, not on a nominal basis, but when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product.

"Johnson has been supportive of Jamaica's reform efforts and worked very hard with officials in Kingston and Washington to clear any obstacles that might have blocked the IDB loan," said a senior Jamaican source, who spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.

"His elevation is good for Jamaica and the Caribbean, generally," he added. "Johnson's will be another critical voice closer in authority in Washington on behalf of the region."

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