Access to finance for businesses in Guyana growing – GCCI President

Access to finance has been a pressing issue for local entrepreneurs for some time. However, consorted efforts by both the Government and the private sector may be paying off as Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President Kester Hutson has reported that there have been improvements.
Hutson, who was only recently elected to the position of GCCI President, related during a recent press conference that access to finance is growing along with the development of various sectors. These are all developments that businesses must capitalise on.
“One of the things we recognise, there is growing access to finance and developing sectors. So, it is my optimism moving forward to engage members and one by one, furthermore, that is part of my outreach, ensure members are comfortable and see how they could add value to being part of the Chamber. And how we could do so too.”
Speaking to what his mandate will be, he related that the GCCI will be seeking to increase networking opportunities for its members. According to Hutson, during his tenure the Chamber will be pushing companies towards more collaboration and the formation of joint ventures, which is something the Government has for some time been urging the business community to do.
“My mandate, one of which is to increase deliverables to our membership. Of course, our membership is growing exponentially and we have to look at our offerings from the exec level, how we’re going to provide support for small and medium sized businesses, especially. And this could be derived simply by a lot of networking.”
“And exposure, such as the trade missions we would have highlighted. One of the strategies will be to bring companies who operate in the same sector, to form sorts of (joint ventures) locally. Or even consortiums, to build capacity and to have a bigger market share in the economy,” Hutson further explained.
GCCI has made repeated calls for access to finance to be addressed, at one point calling out continued bureaucracy at commercial banks hindering access to financing. According to GCCI, this situation was putting local businesses at risk of becoming unable to compete in Guyana’s oil and gas sector, as well as losing out in Government’s projects.
According to the Chamber in a statement earlier this year, local banks must be proactive and outline the hindrances – whether legislative, economic, social, or environmental – that are restricting better access to finance for the local private sector.
It was pointed out that despite charges from the highest level of Government, including President Dr Irfaan Ali and Senior Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, coupled with concerns from the private sector, the banks have not been forthcoming with the information that could mitigate the challenges facing access to finance for local businesses. This had led the private sector to believe that the issues affecting easy access to finance may be caused by the banking sector itself, hence the calls for the hindrances to be clearly stated.
“Access to finance is one of the most critical issues facing the business community, and the Chamber believes that the banks play a major role in mitigating the existing challenge. The banks’ failure to respond to the concerns of the private sector leads to the assumption that the issue of access to finance may be a question of internal diffidence at their level, as opposed to a national legislation or policy concern,” the Chamber had said.
The Chamber had noted last year that based on work done by the GCCI, more than 50 per cent of businesses need formal financing to meet basic working capital needs, and less than 50 per cent need financing for fixed investments and to pay off debts.
In recognition of the challenges that local businesses face, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh in his Budget 2023 speech back in January, had stated that the Guyana Government is committed to ensuring that movable collateral and financial receivables can be pledged as security for financing in the interest of promoting easier access. To this end, it was announced that the necessary legal amendments will be enacted this year to facilitate this process. (G3)