BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has acknowledged “an ongoing administrative process” involving its president, Dr Hyginus’ Gene’ Leon, but remained silent on reports that senior officials of the region’s premier financial institution had been sent on administrative leave.
Earlier, the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) had reported that it was reliably informed that senior officials of the CDB had been sent on administrative leave but that its sources could not provide further details at this time.
However, in a terse one-paragraph statement late on Wednesday night, the bank said, “Caribbean Development Bank acknowledges an ongoing administrative process involving the President. The Bank will not be making any further comments on this internal matter at this time”.
The statement followed the earlier announcement by the bank Wednesday that it had postponed its annual news conference to next month, where it was expected to outline recommendations on how it intended to harness regional and international alliances to broker new partnerships for holistic and inclusive development.
The news conference was initially scheduled for Tuesday next week, but the one-paragraph statement announcing the postponement to February 20 gave no reason.
“The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will now hold its 2024 Annual News Conference on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. Subsequent updates will be shared directly and published via Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn,” the statement said.
But when CMC asked why the postponement, the CDB responded, saying, “The Bank’s teams needed more time.”
When it announced the news conference earlier this month, the CDB said it would be held under the theme “Facilitating Resilient Prosperity” at its headquarters in Wildey, on the capital’s outskirts.
It said the participants would have been Leon, the Vice President of Finances and Corporate Services; Gregory N. Hill, the director of the Projects Department; Mrs. Therese Turner Jones; and the director of the Economic Department, Ian Durant.
The statement informed local and regional journalists that they could expect an overview of CDB’s strategies for resource mobilization, a review of 2023 regional economic performance and the forecast for 2024, as well as results of the CDB-supported projects implemented in 2023
It said that a preview of planned projects, rationale, and expected outcomes for 2024 would have also been made during the news conference.
Leon is the sixth president of the regional development finance institution. He was elected at a special CDB Board of Governors meeting held on January 19, 2021, for a five-year term and assumed office on May 4, 2021.
The highly regarded St. Lucian-born economist heads a team of more than 200 employees headquartered in Bridgetown and came to the assignment with 35 years of experience in economics, financial policy development, and executive management, more than 20 of which were spent working with the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF). He had succeeded the Jamaican-born Dr. Warren Smith, who retired in 2021 after serving as president for ten years.
Last week, Leon was in Guyana holding talks with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) chairman, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, and CARICOM Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett.
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