-Minister Rodrigues says; highlights prospering financial sector, easier accessibility to loans under PPP/C gov’t

MINISTER within the Ministry of Housing and Water Susan Rodrigues has provided evidence to show that there is easier access to loans under the current government owing to its well-crafted policies.

The minister at the time was making her contribution to the Opposition’s proposed motion on the ‘Establishment of a Special Select Committee on Review Charges for House Lots for Guyanese.’

While the Opposition constantly preaches care for the Guyanese people, the minister argued that their actions show otherwise.

She said: “The ideology of the Opposition is to never bring about positive change. It is never to champion for poor people. It is never to champion for the sick and the vulnerable because when they have an opportunity to do so, they squander it.”

However, regardless of whether the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is in government or opposition, according to the minister, they will always be a “champion for the people” and it is reflected in their work and track record.

Further, she said that motions brought by the PPP/C while they were previously in opposition demonstrates their care for the people as they were fighting for measures that would aid the citizens of Guyana.

As Minister Rodrigues further delved into the motion, she noted that Opposition Member of Parliament, Annette Ferguson’s presentation was filled with “personal attacks” towards PPP/C supporters.

However, to counter the motion, she said: “Guyana has one of the lowest interest rates in the world. Interest rates declined in Guyana over the last three years under the leadership of this government.” She added that this occurred in a global environment that saw interest rates rise as a result of the novel coronavirus and inflation.

Speaking more on the performance of the banks, the minister said that the New Building Society (NBS) had an interest rate, in 2020 when APNU+AFC was in office, averaging at 5.4 per cent for low, middle and high income.

Today, under the PPP/C, the low-income rate is as low as 3.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), in 2020 interest rates were 6.9 per cent for up to $10 million for low income. Today it is 3.8 per cent up for up to $9 million. And above the low-income bracket, according to the minister, the interest rate is 6.9 per cent with no ceiling.

For Demerara Bank Limited, in 2020, it was 8.4 per cent and today it is the same as NBS, which is under 4 per cent.

“Again, a direct result of the intervention of this government and our policies in the housing sector and the financial sector,” she noted.

Addressing the subject matter of accessibility to mortgages, Rodrigues noted: “Before 2020, in the period that the APNU+AFC was in office, the equity payment required at NBS was 20-25 per cent. That was the equity payment when they [APNU+AFC] were in office… the equity payment today at NBS is 0 per cent… making it accessible to low-income earners or middle-income earners or anyone to access a mortgage without any financial constraint.”

At GBTI, the equity in 2020 was 10 per cent; it is now 5 per cent on mortgages, according to Minister Rodrigues.

Meanwhile, at Demerara Bank Limited, equity ranged from 15-20 per cent in 2020 and it is now a standard 10 per cent across the board.

Rodrigues then said: “…When you read the annual reports of these banks, they credit the government; the policies of the government for making it possible… if you look at the total value of the mortgage portfolio at the banks in 2020, the mortgage portfolios valued $42 billion at NBS [and] today it is $65.9 billion; from 2020 to now an increase of 55 per cent in value at just that one institution.”

She further noted that in July 2020, the mortgage loan at GBTI was $6.2 billion and in December 2023, it had risen to $15.7 billion.

“Evidence of confidence in the economy, evidence of a stable economy, evidence of more and more Guyanese accessing loans,” the minister emphasised.

She later went on to say: “These are the facts; these are the numbers. So, you can’t come here and cry and make emotional speeches and come here and grandstand without referencing the facts. The numbers don’t lie.”