brian wynter : financial literacy for jamaica opening remarks by mr brian wynter, governor of the bank of jamaica, at the stakeholders ’ forum on financial literacy for jamaica, financial services commission in association with caribbean regional technical assistance centre ( cartac ), kingston, 18 august 2010. * * * honourable audley shaw, minister of finance and the public service ; senator basil waite, opposition spokesman on education ; honourable emil george, chairman of the fsc ; mr rohan barnett, executive director of the fsc ; keynote speaker dr adele atkinson, policy analyst, oecd financial affairs division ; panellists from canada, the eastern caribbean, trinidad & tobago, the united kingdom and jamaica ; ladies and gentlemen : it gives me great pleasure to participate this morning in the opening of the stakeholders ’ forum on financial literacy for jamaica organized by the financial services commission and the caribbean regional technical assistance centre. the bank of jamaica partnered with cartac and the fsc in january this year to launch cartac ’ s regional financial literacy programme website and public education programme at the jamaica conference centre. we are indeed pleased that today the process has moved one step further and we have gathered here to examine a proposal for a national financial literacy programme. this programme, aimed at formalising and coordinating an approach to achieving financial literacy throughout the length and breadth of the country, is timely. in fact, it may even be overdue. we have seen the successful implementation of a national financial literacy programme in trinidad & tobago and the maintenance of a similar 27 - year programme in new zealand. inflation has been trending down, the exchange rate has been stable in recent months and interest rates in general are declining. as the global economic recovery begins to take shape, jamaica must seek to expedite her own recovery through savings and investments ultimately to achieve strong growth and sustainable development. it is a financially literate people who can, in partnership with established and new institutions, enhance the social and economic development of a country. the proliferation of local ponzi schemes a few years ago is a recent reminder that in jamaica, like everywhere, people have an appetite for high returns on their investments. unless allied with prudence and caution, however, the appetite can lead to personal and social catastrophe. but prudence and caution are themselves easily overwhelmed except in the presence of knowledge and understanding. so, for example, an informed populace is less likely to make impulsive decisions on financial matters. through its website, its money museum, its many

brian wynter : modernizing jamaica's foreign exchange market - the pivot to inflation targeting keynote address by mr brian wynter, governor of the bank of jamaica, at the 7th annual national asset - liability management americas conference, santiago, 25 may 2018. * * * introduction buenos daas, chile, que'onda?! chairperson, mr alexandre tombini, fellow speakers and panellists, our hosts, central banking publications, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, good morning and greetings from jamaica. i am happy to be here in chile, not just for the beauty of the country or to brush up on my spanish, but also with an ulterior motive. bank of jamaica is preparing to implement full - fledged inflation targeting and, given that banco central de chile has been a pioneer in this area since the 1990s, we are looking forward to learning from their experience. in addition, central banking publications has been an invaluable source of information, training and networking for central bankers around the world. so i am grateful and happy to take part in an event organised by them and to have the opportunity to address this national asset - liability management americas conference. jamaica's economic reform programme and central bank modernisation for several years, the central bank in jamaica has been operating an'inflation targeting lite'policy regime. i am sure our colleagues in chile will confirm that full - fledged inflation targeting is not something to jump into all of a sudden unless you already have the good fortune of a conducive economic environment. that environment is now emerging in jamaica with the remarkable successes of an ambitious economic reform programme that is now beginning its sixth year. for jamaica to be in a position to consider adopting price stability as the central bank's primary objective and the use of the interest rate lever as its main policy tool, several things had to happen first. since high public debt and fiscal dominance will undermine the effectiveness of any central bank, fiscal sustainability is critical to allowing the central bank the breathing space it needs to conduct an effective monetary policy. once fiscal operations begin to crowd in the private sector and net export earnings increase, a sustainable current account balance becomes possible. then, the political economy limitations on exchange rate flexibility in a hyper - open economy like jamaica's diminish considerably thereby improving the central bank's ability to manage internal and external shocks. in the short space of a few recent years, jamaica has lived through 1 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches