Honouring Mr. Ewart Williams, Former Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad & Tobago

Mr. Ewart WilliamsMr. Ewart S. Williams was appointed as Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago on July 17th 2002.  He was reappointed to the position in 2007, making him the second longest serving Governor of the Bank.  During his tenure, Mr. Williams spearheaded a number of significant achievements for the institution.  Noted among these are the Bank’s improved capacity for economic research and support for monetary policy and the shift to a more market based monetary policy framework based on the repo rate.  Mr. Williams also ensured the strengthening of financial supervision through the introduction of new statutes and amendments to existing legislation and financial infrastructure such as the electronic payments system.

Mr. Williams sought to make the Bank more accessible to the national community by championing a number of important outreach initiatives such as the website upgrade; the establishment of the National Financial Literacy Programme; the creation of the Financial Ombudsman’s Office; the establishment of the Money Museum and the Bank’s charity programme, “We Care”.  Mr. Williams’ tenure culminated with the re-introduction of the $50 note in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of independence.

Tribute:

Tribute to a Citizen of the World by Mr. Martin Franklin, Head, Department of Economics, The UWI, St. Augustine Campus