BOJ Wins International Award

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has won the inaugural ‘Best Communication Initiative Award’ in the British-based Central Banking Publications’ seventh annual central banking awards.

The award’s bestowal, which was formally announced on Thursday (February 6), is in recognition of the BOJ’s utilisation of reggae music in its communication strategy to simplify complex economic matters relating to inflation-targeting.

In a statement on Thursday, Central Bank Governor, Richard Byles, said the BOJ’s management and staff are “thrilled to learn of the decision” and “thank Central Banking [Publications] for the official recognition”.

“Our staff – and indeed Jamaica – will be overjoyed when the news becomes public, and we congratulate our team for leading this initiative. It is our desire to continue to use creative and innovative ways to communicate in a manner where every Jamaican can better understand and support the measures we continue to put in place to further strengthen the Jamaican economy for the benefit of all,” Mr. Byles said.

The BOJ’s Communications Director, Tony Morrison, who conceptualised and spearheaded the programme, noted that the Bank is “still in the early stages of what was always intended to be a long-term and, hopefully, permanent communication programme, with a lot more work to do”.

Mr. Morrison, who also expressed gratitude to Central Banking Publications, paid tribute to “the very talented members of my small but ‘tallawah’ Department and our world-class service providers”.

“However fun or innovative it may seem, the communication programme is firmly based on economics, and for making sure we maintain that integrity, I’m especially grateful for the support of Deputy Governor, Dr. Wayne Robinson, and his Research Division as well as the moral support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As a proud Jamaican, of course, it also means a lot to gain international recognition for my country,” he added.

Dr. Robinson, for his part, noted that as central banks have evolved, “we (BOJ) have become much more aware of the critical importance of strategic communication to implementing monetary policy”.

He said against this background and in the context of Jamaica’s ongoing economic reform programme, the BOJ’s winning a global central bank communication award for a campaign that is “still in its early stages” is “a heartening sign that we are on the right track”.

“It has been my very great pleasure to work closely with our talented Communications Director, who conceived this programme, and I could not be prouder or happier for the Bank and the communications team,” the Deputy Governor said.

The Central Banking Awards were judged by a panel comprising representatives of the Central Banking Editorial Team and Editorial Advisory Board, whose members include former central bank governors and Nobel Prize-winning economists.

Central Banking Publications specialises in providing market intelligence and journalistic coverage of the global central banking community, providing training seminars for central bankers, staging global conferences on various topics relevant to central banks, and making annual awards to central banks, central bankers and relevant entities in the financial sector that provide services to central banks.