CASTRIES – Former governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Sir Dwight Venner has died.
Dominica’s Prime Minister and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman, Roosevelt Skerrit, confirmed the death of the St Vincent-born academic and regional technocrat, saying that he had been informed of the death on Thursday night by his St Lucian counterpart, Allen Chastanet.
Sir Dwight died at the Tapion Hospital just over a year after announcing his retirement in late November 2015.
He spent 26 years of service in his position as governor of the ECCB that serves as a central bank for Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin islands.
Sir Dwight, 70, was the longest-serving governor of any central bank, monetary authority, or federal reserve, having served since 1989.
Sir Dwight was an economist by training and was educated at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Jamaica where he obtained both Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in economics.
He served as a junior research fellow at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of the West Indies and then as a lecturer in economics from 1974 to 1981.
He wrote and published extensively in the areas of monetary and international economics, central banking, public finance, economic development, political economy and international economic relations.
Prior to becoming governor of the Central Bank, he served in the position of Director of Finance and Planning in the St Lucia government between November 1981 and November 1989.
Sir Dwight received the award of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1996 in St Lucia and was recognised as a Distinguished Graduate of the University of the West Indies on its 50th Anniversary in July 1998.
In June 2001, he was awarded Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for services to the financial sector.
In October 2003, the Sir Dwight received an honorary degree, the Doctor of Laws from the University of the West Indies.
In December 2011, he was awarded the St. Lucia Cross for distinguished and outstanding service of national importance to St. Lucia.
Sir Dwight is survived by his wife, Lynda Arnolde Winville Venner nee St Rose, and seven children. (CMC)
