Leader of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah is calling for Governor of the Central Bank Jwala Rambarran to go. Abdulah made the call at a press conference at the party’s St Joseph Village, San Fernando headquarters, yesterday.
He said Rambarran’s recent revelations on which companies use the most foreign exchange have alienated the financial and business sectors.
“What the Central Bank Governor has done, he has alienated the financial and banking sector, he has alienated a large portion of the business community and has generated probably internationally as well, a lack of confidence in the economy,” he said. “Which is why we have called for his head and not only now, but from very early this year because he is affecting the confidence in the economy of T&T.”
Rambarran was appointed to the position of Governor of the Central Bank on July 17, 2012. According to the Central Bank website, he is currently chairman of the Deposit Insurance Corporation and a member of the Board of Governors of the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund.
Abdulah said while the party agrees with the disclosure of information about the country’s economy, he believes full disclosure should have been made. He accused Rambarran of trying to play “populis” by releasing the names of companies that used the most forex in the country over the last few years.
“We are very much in favour of information provided to citizens about the economy, but you cannot play hot and cold with the information as the governor has done. So when it comes to Clico, for example, the governor hides behind the law and says he cannot provide information to the country about who bought Clico’s assets.”
“He hides behind the Central Bank secrecy act and says he cannot talk about who has been fired, who has been hired in the last three years and what qualifications they have, so he hides behind secrecy in some matters and in other matters now, he is trying to play populist by trying to out big consumers of foreign exchange.”
He claimed Rambarran has deteriorated the confidence level in T&T’s economy.
“What he therefore did was further deteriorate the level of confidence in the economy of T&T, all business people and economists know that confidence is a critical component of economic stability, leading to investment, growth, additional forex earnings and increased employment.
“When there is a lack of confidence then a difficult financial situation is exacerbated a hundred times over because people will not invest or save locally, therefore there is no impetus to growth.”
He added there cannot be a situation where the government’s Minister of Finance and the Central Bank Governor are not working together.
“We need to restore confidence. If it is not done, the shock of internation oil prices will be much worse and the process to the return to growth and stability will be further delayed. You cannot have a situation where the Governor of Central Bank and the government, through the Minister of Finance, are not working in harmony to address monetary and fiscal policy that are critical to economic stability and development. So therefore, in our view, he has overstayed his welcome.”