The Government must declare its reasons if it wants to fire the Central Bank Governor says former finance minister Conrad Enill.
He added that the governor and the Government cannot be at loggerheads on the direction of the economy. “One has the responsibility of fiscal policy and the other manages monetary policy. So the minister and governor must co-exist to deal with the economy’s problems and tell the public what is the correct situation and what policy choices they’re going to pursue on that basis.”
He said the governor has leeway in terms of how he performs his job, “And it’s not uncommon for differences to occur between the governor and Finance Minister.” Enill said Jwala Rambarran had simply reported data that he has, but whether that was a basis to fire him, Enill couldn’t say since he said he didn’t have all the facts.
On claims Rambarran broke the law in listing the largest forex consumers, Enill said if the Government had been asked in Parliament to state who the biggest forex consumers are, ministers would have had to answer.
On whether T&T is in a recession, Enill said there was no question that T&T is “in a different place.” He said the governor and government should be addressing questions by the public to guide them on financial matters “as basic as if people had to borrow money to play mas for Carnival, whether they should do so. In this period, they shouldn’t.”
Former minister of finance Mariano Browne has said, “If there are issues between the governor and minister, sort it out privately. Not publicly, lest you undermine the institution of the Bank, destabilise T&T’s smooth running and send negative signals to the international market.”
Former central bank governor Winston Dookeran and former PP finance minister said his understanding of the act indicated there wasn’t any legal argument on the removal of a CB governor that would apply to Rambarran.
“This appears to be a matter of politics rather than laws. But I do not think the public display in which this has been handled can boost confidence in the system; handling a matter as big as this in this way can’t instill confidence,”
“There are always issues between central bank governors and finance ministers, but there’s a dignity in how it is to be handled and dealt with on fundamental disagreement of policy—not this kind of tit for tat. It is unfortunate to see this.” Dookeran said when he was finance minister, then-CB governor Ewart Williams had made statements about recession and as finance minister, Dookeran had chosen to ignore any public fight in a bid to build confidence in the system.
Dookeran said a number of matters were raised about Rambarran and each had to be dealt with separately. He said the current situation reminded him of the issue concerning former chief justice Sat Sharma, whom the Manning PNM government unsuccessfully attempted to impeach.
Dookeran said the Central Bank governor doesn’t have to “report” to the minister since there are mechanisms via which both work together. He said the CB is independent. “There’s a big issue about that but the Bank is supposed to be independent of political influence. During my tenure there was a survey on trusted institutions and maintaining that trust requires independence. If you deal with it in narrow political terms, you destroy that trust.”
GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION
• Being of unsound mind/incapable of doing duties.
• Is convicted/sentenced to jail
• Convicted of any offences involving dishonesty
• Guilty of misconduct in relation to duties.
• Is absent, except leave if granted by the board from all Board meetings, from all board meetings in two consecutive months or any three months in a year.
• Fails to comply with section 16.1 (regarding declaration of interest.)
• Contravenes any provision of any prescribed code of ethics.
• Becomes disqualified for office due to section 9 (re persons who are state/THA/corporation office holders, financial institutions.)
• Fails to carry out duties/functions conferred on him/her under the act.