–President Ali announces

BANKING and financial services will be taken into the hinterland, as President, Dr. Irfaan Ali has announced that the government is currently working with the private sector to ensure that even the most remote areas are not at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing essential services.

President Ali made this announcement on Saturday at a public meeting in Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini), where he assured residents that the government is working assiduously to make the lives of all Guyanese better and more comfortable.

“We’re now working with the private sector to ensure that you have financial services and banking services available to you here,” President Ali said.

The banking and financial sector is an important sector, which the government has been placing specific focus on in order to empower citizens to benefit from the massive economic transformation taking place across the country.

Access to financing is a main pillar for the establishment, growth and success of both small- and large-scale businesses, as well as the economic empowerment of individuals and households.

Under the stewardship of the PPP/C Government, Guyana’s financial sector has seen significant improvements in recent years in key performance indicators, reflecting a strengthening economy and robust regulatory oversight.

Owing to critical policies implemented by the government, the country’s financial system has been regulated over the past four years, the Head of State said last year, while highlighting a number of indicators, examining the stability and wellness of the country’s financial system.

Additionally, earlier this year, Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said that with the introduction of new technologies, Guyana’s outdated banking and financial sector is getting a facelift.

The Vice-President is of the belief that the financial sector can become a humbug, and could slow down the massive growth that Guyana is seeing in the real sector, if it does not expand in complexity and instruments.

“That is why we’re trying to drag it out of the stone ages into an environment that is appropriate to support the expansion in the real sector,” Jagdeo said.

Further, several projects are being executed to aid in the digitisation of Guyana, he related.

He also said that they are issuing secure documents for every citizen to have a national identification card (ID) that would give the biometrics to start deepening the financial services and to broaden the range of instruments that would be available for people to improve payment systems, among other things.