$150B increase in bank loans since 2020 – most for agriculture, manufacturing, service businesses & mortgages – Finance Minister

– as Guyana’s World Trade Center on course for opening in 1st half of 2025

Loans from the local banking sector to the private sector have grown by $150 billion — an increase of 58 per cent — in less than four years. This revelation, together with a breakdown of which sectors attracted the most credit, was made by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh during a World Trade Centre Conference to address local and international banking issues.

During the press briefing, Dr Singh, who was the keynote speaker, stressed that more should be done by the banking sector to make banking more accessible to the wider population. However, he did give credit where it was due, particularly when it comes to how much the banks’ loans to the private sector have increased.
As a matter of fact, Singh revealed that, from 2020 to June 2024, local banks have lent an additional $150 billion to the private sector. This represents a 58 per cent expansion in credit to the private sector, and it is something he described as a phenomenal achievement.
“Total credit to the private sector grew from $260 billion at the end of 2020 to $410 billion at the end of June 2024. In absolute terms, over the period from the end of 2020 to June 2024, an additional $150 billion of credit was provided to the private sector by banks in Guyana. That constitutes, over that three-and-a-half-year period, constitutes 58 per cent growth,” he explained.
The minister further detailed the various sectors that attracted the most financing. For instance, agriculture credit grew by 19.4 per cent in 2021, by 15.5 per cent in 2022, and by 14.7 per cent in 2023.
“If you look at manufacturing, in 2021, credit to the manufacturing sector grew by 27 per cent; in 2022 by 36 per cent; and in 2023 by 15.8 per cent,” he detailed.
“If you look at services, credit to the services sector grew by 16.4 per cent (in 2021); in 2022 by 15.8 per cent, and in 2023 by 12.9 per cent.
“If you look at credit for real estate mortgage loans, real estate mortgage loans grew in 2021 by 5.5 per cent,” Dr Singh said.
He pointed out that, at the time, the PPP/C government had just come back into office, and, in the process, reintroduced several incentives. Growth in credit to the real estate market has since continued its upward trajectory.
“We saw a pick-up in 2022, with growth for real estate mortgages amounting to 9.8 per cent in 2022, and 2023 a staggering 22.5 per cent — reflecting increased access to house lots; growing middle income; professional homes, including the impact of the restoration and doubling of the mortgage interest relief, which reduces the cost of credit,” he explained.
“Reflecting the increases in the ceiling for the low-income mortgage windows that we introduced, that increased the amount that could be borrowed under the low-income window. That special window was established in several banks, including the Demerara Bank,” he detailed. Aside from the foregoing, Dr Singh noted that Government would like to see even more being done by the banks when it comes to lending.

WTCG conference
The WTCG conference was sponsored by Demerara Bank Limited (DBL). In the lead-up to the conference, it was announced that the conference was being held at a time of transformational developments in global business, technological advancements in banking operations, enhanced regulatory safeguards, and the need for easier access to financing on the part of small and medium-sized enterprises.
On Tuesday, the event also saw a critical update being provided on the World Trade Center being built in Guyana. World Trade Center Georgetown Executive Director Wesley Kirton revealed that the building should be opened in the first half of next year.
Local beverage giant Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) acquired the licence in 2022 to set up the WTC in Georgetown with the aim of connecting Guyanese businesses with potential partners around the world in order to access information as well as new markets through the network of more than 300 World Trade Centers globally.
The WTC Georgetown Building is being constructed in Kingston, Georgetown, and already, the World Trade Center Georgetown has signed several MoUs with the WTCs in China, Ghana, Canada, and Colombia. Already, Guyana has been exhibiting a growing prominence on the regional WTC scene.
In September 2024, Guyana was represented at the Latin American Regional Meeting of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The meeting brought together key trade representatives from across the region, and featured the formal inauguration of the World Trade Center Santo Domingo Tower, officiated by Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader.
Guyana’s World Trade Center Delegation was led by Executive Chairman Komal Samaroo and Executive Director Kirton. They discussed several key topics, including artificial intelligence as a tool to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of small and medium-sized companies; the development of business tourism; nearshoring and free trade zoning as business detonators; and WTC Miami as a business facilitator of Latin American and Caribbean trade. (G-3)