Sir Courtney Newlands McLaurin Blackman, KA (6 March 1933 – 16 March 2021) was a Barbadianeconomist, international business consultant, and diplomat. He served as the first Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados from 1972 to 1987. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest central bank governor in the world.
Blackman served as Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados from June 1972 to March 1987, the longest-serving governor as of 2021. He was offered the position in a 5AM phone call from then-Prime MinisterErrol Barrow; Blackman immediately accepted, but later joked that he "would never again accept a job offer while half asleep".[5] He became the youngest central bank governor in the world at the time, at the age of 39 years old. He was responsible for growing the bank's organisation from its initial team of five people, as well as setting monetary policy.[6][7]
As governor, Blackman supervised the 1973 introduction of the Barbadian dollar; although it was initially tied to the pound sterling, Blackman changed the currency to a fixed exchange rate tied to the US dollar in 1975. This rate of BDS$2 = US$1 was still in effect at the time of his death; PM Mia Mottley and later central bank governor Cleviston Haynes credited it with providing economic stability.[8] Blackman also organized the construction of the central bank plaza, which is now the Tom Adams Financial Centre in Bridgetown.[6]
After retiring from the Central Bank in 1987, Blackman became a business consultant to other governments and international institutions. From 1995 to 2000, he served as Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative for Barbados to the Organization of American States.[4] He later became an Honorary Distinguished Fellow at the UWI's Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES).[9]
Personal life
Blackman and his wife Gloria had three sons:[5]Martin is a tennis player and coach,[10] while Chris and Keith are television news producers.[11][12]
Blackman was known for correcting erroneous statements or reports made about Barbados in the international community.[13][14]
^Smith, Christina (16 December 2017). "Grand Salle takes on new name". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^Blackman, Courtney N. (March 1990). "Tourism and Other Services in the Anglophone Caribbean". Commission for the Study of International Migration and Cooperative Economic Development. 26. hdl:2027/txu.059173000688557 – via HathiTrust.
^Blackman, Courtney N. (2006). "Finance, Investment and Economic Development: Towards an Investment-Friendly Financial Environment". In Birchwood, Anthony; Seerattan, Dave (eds.). Finance and Real Development in the Caribbean. Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Centre for Monetary Studies. pp. 113–124. CiteSeerX10.1.1.663.8626. LCCN2008375790. OCLC174278178.