BASSETERRE, ST. Kitts, Nov 28, CMC – The Chairman of the Eastern Caribbean Monetary Council, Chief Minister Victor Banks has denied media reports that a person had been named to replace Sir Dwight Venner, the outgoing Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
Media reports had suggested that Dr. Higinus Gene Leon, a St. Lucian-born economist, had been given the nod over Dominica’s Dr. Valda Henry and Timothy Antoine of Grenada.
But Banks, the Chief Minister of Anguilla, speaking on WINN FM radio here Friday, rubbished the reports saying that was simply not true.
“The process has not yet been completed. The research team had a look at the candidates and a number of candidates have been short listed,” he said, adding that the Council will “now meet and discuss and interview with the candidates who have been shortlisted and make a determination which of the candidates will be the next governor.
“So that is the process we are going through now. That process will probably be completed during the first or second week in December,” he said, adding “somebody may have gotten the information that a number of names were on the short list and they have speculated as to who is the new governor of the Central Bank.
“That decision has not yet been made, as a matter of fact, no applicant has agreed to serve as governor of the Central Bank,” Banks said, adding he could not even confirm who are the names of the people shortlisted or had indeed applied for the post.
The ECCB serves the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis, Anguilla and Montserrat.
