The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) is gearing itself to seek out further lending opportunities in what Board Chairman Robin Stoby has described as a “very competitive” commercial banking sector against the backdrop of what he says is the bank’s continued optimism about the future of the Guyana economy.
In his report, part of the GBTI’s recently released 2009 annual report, Stoby points to the bank’s Branch Expansion Programme as a demonstration of its confidence in the economy and its resolve to be part of the financial landscape of the country.
This year, GBTI will open its new Kingston Head Office while, according to Stoby, the bank’s new Grove/Diamond Branch is expected to be completed by September.
Meanwhile, the GBTI chairman says in his 2009 report that the statistics on usage of the recently completed Takutu Bridge which provides a connection between Guyana and northern Brazil suggests that it will bring a fillip to trade between Guyana and Brazil, an expectation, which Stoby says prompted the opening of the bank’s Lethem branch in 2006. “We also were able to observe the impact of a full year of operation of the Berbice River Bridge. Here again, statistics of usage supports the viability of the enterprise and vindicate our decision to be a part of the funding of the bridge.”
Meanwhile, Stoby says that GBTI anticipates a highly competitive banking environment this year with all commercial banks “aggressively” seeking out “sound lending opportunities” against the backdrop of high liquidity. Stoby’s assessment of the state of liquidity of the commercial banking sector is echoed by the bank’s Chief Executive Officer John Tracey who notes in his own 2009 report that last year commercial banks increased their total assets by $21.1 billion to $253.7 billion compared to the $28.7 billion growth recorded in 2008. At the same time total loans and advances by the banking sector stood at $64.4 billion at the end of 2009; that amount representing 30.0% of overall commercial bank deposits. Last year saw an average $1.2 billion decline in lending to individual customers while lending to business enterprises increased by an average $2.5 billion and to non-residents by $558 million.
Tracey says that this year GBTI will be seeking to improve its market share in the banking sector and to take advantage of opportunities to enter new markets.
In his report Tracey also alludes to the bank’s recognition of its “corporate obligations,” pointing to its sponsorship of programmes in the fields of the arts, education and sport including its financial role in the reconstruction of the Barclays Wing of the Government Technical Institute and its National Grade Six Assessment Examination bursary awards to student members of the bank’s Early Savers Club.
