Derick Latibeaudiere's departure from the central bank is, on the face of it, sudden, and its timing awkward, coming in the middle of Jamaica's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for US$1.2 billion in loans. It is, however, not entirely unexpected. The greater surprise, perhaps, is that he lasted so long under the Golding administration.

But Mr Latibeaudiere's departure at this critical junction, when he was leading Jamaica's technical talks with the IMF, raises further questions about the clarity with which Prime Minister Golding's government took office, and seems to underline the failure of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to map operating strategies during its 18 years in Opposition.

Before the JLP came to office 26 months ago, it made no secret of its unease with Mr Latibeaudiere's governorship of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). And over the past two years, the policy battle between Mr Latibeaudiere and Finance Minister Audley Shaw has been publicly waged. Neither would claim there is chemistry between them.

The disagreements have largely been over the central bank's management of interest rates, which was a sore point for the minister and the private sector. They felt that the BOJ kept rates too high for too long, to the detriment of private-sector investment and economic growth. It is also Mr Shaw's concern that the BOJ's interest-rate regime meant higher debt-servicing costs and greater pressure on his fragile budget, half of which goes towards servicing Jamaica's $1.2 trillion debt.With the central bank having in recent months clipped four and a half percentage points from its benchmark 180 instrument, bringing the rate to 17 per cent, Mr Shaw unsurprisingly quipped that Mr Latibeaudiere was at last "making the right moves".

primary job

In the 13 years he was governor of the BOJ, Mr Latibeaudiere insisted that his primary job was to manage the exchange rate and contribute to inflation control, to which he applied the appropriate monetary tools. He was never shy in defending his decisions. The great failure, he often argued, was in fiscal management - the inability of the Government to live within its means.

But current macroeconomic issues are not all. For even as Mr Shaw and Mr Latibeaudiere were ostensibly working together to craft workable economic programmes, the minister was championing a public inquiry into the financial sector collapse of the 1990s, which, in part, is a challenge to Mr Latibeaudiere's stewardship.

The relationship was inherently untenable and would only have been exacerbated by whatever technical differences that may have emerged during the IMF negotiations. Something, in the end, had to give. For while the central bank governor must have a mind of his own, he has to enjoy the respect and confidence of the finance minister.

It is unfortunate that Mr Shaw did not resolve these issues ahead of entering the IMF talks, rather than developing this nasty spat in the middle of the talks, coming at it does after Mr Shaw was forced to dump his previously hand-picked financial secretary, leaving the impression of an administration in an unsteady lurch.

Given the administration's relationship with Mr Latibeaudiere, we suspect that Mr Brian Wynter's choice as his successor was not hasty. Mr Shaw must, therefore, be satisfied that Mr Wynter will bring the depth of intellect required for the job, and the capacity for creativity and change, which he clearly believed Mr Latibeaudiere lacked.

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