The Central Bank of Barbados has reported a $2 million loss following a $7.4 million drop in revenue last year.
In the bank’s 2011 annual financial report published online on Friday, the institution reported that its total income in 2011 reached $54 million – a 12 per cent drop from the $61.5 million it generated in 2010.
“Interest income from the main areas of activity of treasury bills, investments and advances increased by $1.1 million,” the reported noted.
According to the bank, “Reinvestment yields are extremely low and high-yielding securities are expensive and long-term. In view of the . . . market conditions, the bank was less active in the securities market and as a result, gains on sale of securities declined by $5.9 million.”
The institution, which regulates commercial banks, conceded that “as a result of the sharp decline in revenue, the bank incurred a net loss of $2.0 million during the year. This loss will be applied to the accumulated deficit at December 31, 2010”.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank announced the launch of its Financial Stability Report for 2012. That report assessed the performance and resilience of the local financial services sector using a number of “stress tests”.
In this connection, the Central Bank said it proposed to work closely with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to identify any potential systemic financial risks.
Moreover, the report noted that the Central Bank and the FSC were “expected to initiate self-assessments of their regulatory and supervisory frameworks in advance of the planned financial sector assessment by the International Monetary Fund in 2013”. (GE)
