Over the years 2004 to 2009, a task force set up to manage the affairs of the now defunct Guyana National Cooperative Bank (GNCB) was able to recover some 92 per cent of approximately $2 billion in outstanding loans; taking the portfolio down to 366 from 1,451 loans outstanding at the beginning of that five-year period.
This is according to unaudited statements that the newspaper has seen recently. Further, the success of the collection campaign came amidst the prevailing economic downturn, heavy losses in the rice sector and widespread flooding in 2005 affecting all business sectors.
In 2004, then president Bharrat Jagdeo tasked a