BARBADIANS WITH SAVINGS in commercial banks and other deposit-taking institutions will soon no longer be able to rely on the Central Bank to set minimum rates.
Two years after saying it was holding on to that power in an attempt to “partially insulate small savers” from inflation, the Central Bank yesterday announced an about-turn and attributed the change to “careful consideration of the performance of the domestic financial markets”.
From April 21, the five commercial banks operating here and other deposit-taking entities will be able to set their own interest rates for savings accounts.
“The legal notice of this change appears in the Official Gazette of [yesterday’s date], and commercial banks are obliged to provide customers one month’s notice before they may alter the existing rate,” the Central Bank announced in a short Press release. (SC)
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