– President Ali says bank boom sees nearly 180,000 new accounts opened amid Guyana’s rapid growth
PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali has hailed a surge in bank accounts, rising credit and deep liquidity as signs of growing confidence and financial inclusion.
Speaking during a press conference earlier this week, the President disclosed an expansion in banking activity, with 179,758 new accounts opened between October 2024 and August 2026, saying the surge reflects rising confidence and wider financial inclusion in a rapidly growing economy.
Citing data from six commercial banks and two non-bank deposit-taking institutions, the President told reporters that 96 per cent of the new accounts were opened in the formal banking sector, following Government moves to ease requirements for ordinary Guyanese to open accounts.
Between October 2024 and March 2026, 119,807 accounts were opened, with a further 59,951 added from April to August 2026 alone.
Dr Ali linked the uptick directly to regulatory and procedural changes aimed at lowering barriers to entry for low- and middle-income customers who were previously excluded from, or hesitant about, formal banking.
“When you look at our banking sector, we have about $90 billion of excess reserves in the banking system. That is in excess of the reserve. You have $90 billion of liquidity,” he said.
The President also pointed to strong growth in lending as evidence that more households and businesses are accessing finance.
At the end of the first half of 2026, net domestic credit stood at $1.286 billion, an increase of 15.5 per cent over the December 2025 position. Credit to the private sector grew by 11.5 per cent, while credit to households rose by 14.6 per cent year-on-year.
Real estate mortgages expanded by 21.2 per cent, which Dr Ali cited as a sign that more Guyanese are buying or improving homes and investing in property.
“Isn’t this an economy that is healthy? Isn’t this an economy that is demonstrating strength, that is demonstrating diversification, that is demonstrating structural stability? That is what these numbers demonstrate. This is the facts. This is what we should be debating, facts from fiction,” he added.
He tied the expansion in credit and mortgages to broader growth in construction and services, suggesting that more jobs and higher incomes are feeding into demand for housing, business loans and personal credit.
For the administration, the banking and credit figures have become a key indicator that the country’s headline economic growth is beginning to filter into everyday financial lives.
He said the Government is now working with banks to “leverage this liquidity to create opportunities”, promising new instruments that would allow Guyanese to invest directly in “major transformative projects” for fixed rates of return.
