Less hassle for low-income earners to open bank accounts – VP Jagdeo

Low-income persons will face less difficulty in opening bank accounts amid many instances where the system had caused disintermediation among the population.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo indicated during a stakeholders’ meeting at State House on Thursday that in easing the restrictions, persons conducting transactions of up to $500,000 can just walk in without any difficulty and get it done. Additionally, they would not have to specify the use of these monies to the institution.

“You walk in. You can open an account and open an account without all this fancy forms to fill up; withdraw your money without telling the bank what you’re using it for. It’s causing disintermediation here. People are scared of going in the banks,” he outlined.
Depending on the level of transactions, different requirements would be needed. Those depositing higher figures on an annual basis would have to go through the normal channel.

Strategies
Meanwhile, President Dr Irfaan Ali told the commercial banks that in light of the current developments, consideration should be made to rethink their strategies regarding infrastructure.
“Because of the infrastructural transformation that is taking place, you need to rethink your strategy with the suppliers and the input for infrastructure. We have gone out and give quarry licence, but then a lot of the projects are held up at the bank. And there is a clear demand for quarrying for which we now have to push to get imported,” he underscored.
According to the President, the banks must match what is happening in the country.
“The banks must follow the development of the country and a clear path to match what is happening with the development of the country,” he stressed.
On the other end, the Guyanese leader noted that in conversations with commercial banks, it was found that businesses were not granted loans owing to shortcomings on their end to provide relevant proposals and other details.
“Out of the total loan seekers, more than 65 per cent of them didn’t have a business proposal. And this is the problem. Some businesses believe that research and development, investing in somebody to write your business plan or proposal is a cost you shouldn’t take. It is not a cost. It is an investment,” Dr Ali said.
“Our maturity in the Private Sector also has to understand that we have to do things differently…It is also the proactiveness of the Private Sector. That is why I said we have to do some introspecting.”
In the next eight years, the Vision 2030 of resilience and stability is a critical component which Government is working on to ensure success for the country. The Head of State noted that this would lay the foundation for the economy to perform beyond this timeline. He added that this vision would shape a Guyana that was very different than what is seen today.
The Government wants to build a country that is very deliberate in the architecture that we’re building from macro-economic stability, he said, for resilience, sustainability, and to ensure continuous growth and development. That is key.