– Jagdeo says financial literacy, access to capital critical to next phase of economic growth

IN a move meant to boost support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo announced that there will be a development bank set up soon.
Dr Jagdeo made these remarks while delivering an address to the latest batch of graduates of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), through which close to 40,000 persons have been awarded scholarships for studies at various levels.

The Vice President was, at the time, encouraging the graduates to grasp the opportunities that are being presented as Guyana continues to witness unprecedented economic growth in various sectors.
While also encouraging entrepreneurship, he stated, “There will be a bank, a development bank, that will allow zero-interest financing for small and medium-scale businesses.”
He went on to add that if people are looking to go down that route, he hopes that they would look at all the opportunities there.

Against this backdrop, he indicated that the government in its next term in office will place a bigger focus on financial literacy and financial empowerment.
Just last year, while addressing stakeholders in Guyana’s manufacturing and services sector, Dr. Jagdeo stated that the government was exploring the re-establishment of a development bank that will assist in areas of key financial gaps to provide long-term capital to support transformational projects.

At that time, he emphasised the government’s commitment to strengthening and modernising Guyana’s financial sector to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding economy.

During that engagement, he also noted that discussions were underway to introduce new institutions and innovative financial instruments to complement the offerings of existing financial entities.
These tools, he explained, were essential to addressing the evolving needs of businesses and industries.