for the first time and we are using our counters ; and • today, for the first time the banking hall of the new headquarters building is being used. we are today starting the migration process of our whole banking operations from the old to the new building. we are hopeful that two to three weeks down the line we would have completed the move to the new headquarters. so, we have three impressive firsts for a small occasion. i am pleased to invite directors of the board of the bank as well as our first customers to move forward for the formal launch of the otc sales. ( unscrolling of display ) after the formal launch, we shall move towards the counters. i believe that whenever there is something new, there must also be something old. so, to mark the start of transactions at our new counters and with a view to coining this momentous occasion, i found it most auspicious to strike the gong which was offered to us by the central bank of kenya at the time of the inauguration of our old building in 1972. i thank you all for your presence with us this morning.

delisle worrell : keeping the economy stable and achieving growth featured address by dr delisle worrell, governor of the central bank of barbados, at the bcci finance & investment luncheon seminar, bridgetown, 28 october 2015. * * * by dint of economic policies suited to our circumstances the barbados economy has been kept stable ever since the onset of the global economic recession, now seven years ago. foreign exchange reserves have been protected by fiscal contraction to reduce spending and importation, to ensure the balance between inflows and outflows of foreign exchange is maintained. as a result, foreign reserves remain adequate, and economic policy and the future development of the economy remain firmly in our own hands. as i have often said, the great value of adequate reserves is that barbadians are our own economic bosses. the challenge before us remains, to use our mastery of our destiny to take actions that further the economic development of our country. i invite you to join me in assessing the advantages barbados brings to the international markets in which we do business, our performances in those markets, the obstacles we face, and how we may overcome them and accelerate the pace of economic development over the coming years. our advantages we are rich in the resources that matter for tourism, international business, culture and other services that can attract business to our shores. these include our equitable climate, our geographical location, our abundant sunshine, the fact that english is our native language, and the physical beauty of our island. we have enhanced our appeal to visitors and investors – and bettered the quality of our own lives – by the investment we have made over the years in health, education, roads, our port and airport, public utilities and our system of law and order. as a result, barbados has the reputation of being a safe, salubrious country, and it scores highly in indexes of freedom and transparency. barbados outshines most of the competition in the majority of global indexes which offer comparisons among countries. we are number one in latin america and the caribbean in the global innovation index, published by the un world intellectual property organisation ( wipo ) and others ; first in the caribbean in the global tourism competitiveness report, published by the world economic forum ; and second only to panama in the caribbean and central america in the global competitiveness report, published by the same body. among factors which work to barbados ’ advantage are the quality of our institutions, our social partnership, the