Derick Latibeaudiere is yet to make a decision about his future, following his firing last week as governor of Jamaica's central bank.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, he repeated his wish for an early conclusion of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a US$1.2-billion loan.

"I haven't thought about it," the ex-Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) boss said, when asked about his next move.

Until his dismissal, ostensibly in a dispute over his employment contract, Latibeaudiere was leading Jamaica's negotiations with the IMF, a role that has since been assumed by Financial Secretary Dr Wesley Hughes.

Early conclusion

Yesterday, Latibeaudiere told The Gleaner that "Given where Jamaica is, I am really hoping for that (an early conclusion of the negotiations)."

While the Government has disputed rating agency Standard & Poor's downgrade of Jamaica, Latibeaudiere has declined to make any pronouncements on the matter.

"I have not been able to read between the lines of what they (S&P) had to say," he told The Gleaner. "I don't think they have any reason to double speak. They usually say what they mean."

When S&P previously downgraded Jamaica to CCC+, Latibeaudiere, then still in charge of the central bank, said he thought the action premature and that it did not sufficiently take into account the IMF negotiations.

Meanwhile, in a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Golding, seeking to divert speculation that Latibeaudiere's dismissal was because of policy differences, particularly the governor's resistance to a rapid downward movement of interest rates, insisted the concerns were related to pay.

Latibeaudiere, he said, would have been paid $38 million this year, including $23 million in rent and maintenance for living in his own home. The governor, he said, had resisted attempts at the bank's board and by finance minister Audley Shaw to renegotiate the package, which was signed by the previous administration.

On how the Government had handled the issue, Latibeaudiere said: "Put yourself in my position. If that had happened to you (the prime minister's statement", what would be your position?"