The decision by some of the country’s commercial banks not to work with the state-run Small Business Bureau (SBB) in pursuit of its Micro and Small Enterprise Development (MSED) programme continues to be a disappointment to the institution but one over which it has no control, Chief Executive Officer Dr Lowell Porter has said.
The MSED programme makes provision for loans of up to $30 million from banks that have signed on to support the programme subject to assessments undertaken by the Bureau to determine whether applying small business owners can qualify for loans before guiding them through the application process. Loan applicants under the MSED project must, however, meet the equity and collateral requirements of the particular financial institution being engaged for the loan. Small business owners who obtain a loan under the MSED project will make re-payments at a reduced interest rate of 6% and will only be required to guarantee 60% of collateral.
Two commercial banks, the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry and Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd have signed on to work with clients on the recommendation of the SBB.