Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, told Guyana’s business community on Thursday that a thriving private sector is essential to the country’s broader economic success, as he outlined plans for a development bank targeting small and medium-sized enterprises.
Speaking at the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (GCCI) Breakfast Seminar at the Marriott Hotel, Dr Singh said the government viewed its objectives as aligned with those of the private sector.
“We want to see you do well because we believe that a growing private sector that seeks out, finds and converts business opportunities into income — incomes earned, prosperity generated and wealth accumulated and built — can only redound to a more prosperous and successful country,” he said.
Dr Singh said the Guyana Development Bank Bill, recently presented to the National Assembly, would provide loans of up to $3 million, free of collateral and interest, to entrepreneurs with viable projects, with borrowers expected to eventually graduate into the formal banking system.
“We don’t want only the first cohort to benefit. We want a first cohort to benefit, and then a second, a third and a fourth,” he said.
He added that the bank was designed to be self-sustaining, with funds revolving to serve successive rounds of borrowers.
President Irfaan Ali, speaking previously on the initiative, said the bank was about creating opportunities at the individual and small-business level that would allow Guyanese to prosper and succeed.
GCCI President Kathy Smith commended the government for the initiative, saying the event was geared towards ensuring that micro, small and medium-sized businesses could grow through access to the bank’s resources.
“Today could be the day that you will look back on in a few years and say, ‘That is the moment my life changed’,” Smith said.
A panel discussion followed, with questions from the business community addressed by representatives of Opulent Consultancy Inc, the Small Business Bureau, Guyana Payroll Solutions Inc, and the Centre for Local Business Development.
