Central banker Colin Bullock has completed his tour at the Ministry of Finance. - File

Colin Bullock, who, as financial secretary, had an uneasy relationship with his boss, Finance Minister Audley Shaw, is not being retained in the job by the Golding administration, it was announced yesterday.

Bullock is being replaced, at least on a temporary basis, by the deputy financial secretary for economic management, Darlene Morrison.

"... The PSC (Public Service Commission) will subsequently advertise the post and make a permanent appointment," the finance ministry said in a statement.

It was not clear whether Bullock, who turned 57 last week and is eight years shy of the mandatory retirement age, will return to the Bank of Jamaica on whose board he also serves.

NO IMMEDIATE STATEMENT

A central bank information official said that there was no immediate statement on the matter and declined to speculate on the matter. "I can't comment," she said.

Bullock, a University of the West Indies (UWI) academic turned central banker, was seconded to the finance ministry in May 2005 to succeed Shirley Tyndall, the long-serving financial secretary, who retired after 46 years in the public sector.

But Bullock and Shaw have been at odds since Bruce Golding's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) came to office in last September's general election after 18 years in opposition.

The internal tensions spilled over into the public sphere months ago when Shaw, arguing that Bullock had overstepped his bounds, reversed a decision by the financial secretary to contract legal cases involving the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (Finsac) to the private law practice of ex- solicitor general, Michael Hylton. Finsac is the vehicle that was used by the Government to bail out depositors and policyholders banks and insurance companies during the 1990s financial sector meltdown.

Cheap loans

Finance ministry insiders also say that Bullock was uneasy with what he felt was Shaw's less than nuanced approach to policy, including the minister's long-held position that it would be easy to raise cheap loans from multilateral financial institutions and Asian financial markets. "The differences were obvious," said one source.

The ministry's terse, five paragraph statement announcing Bullock's departure on May 1, however, made no mention of the differences.

"Mr Shaw has expressed thanks to Mr Bullock for his service and professionalism during his tenure as financial secretary," the statement said.

business@gleanerjm.com