$4.5B being secured to help households

— will assist private sector and other groups

DPI, Guyana, Saturday, August 8, 2020

The sum of $4.5Billion is being secured as an initial sum to assist households during the COVID 19 pandemic.

This was disclosed by newly elected President of Guyana, His Excellency Mohamed Ifraan Ali, during his inauguration speech at the National Cultural Centre (NCC).

President Ali stated that his government has already met with the Governor of the Central Bank and directed him to extend regulatory permission to allow bankers to continue extending moratoriums.

“We have also looked at the possibility of adjusting the Reserve Requirement, which will allow the banks to have more disposable resources and tying that adjustment with lower interest rates,” the President stated.

Acknowledging the effect the pandemic has had on the workforce, the Head of State noted that his government will be determining what support they can lend to the private sector from a fiscal perspective.

This, he said, is being done “with the view of supporting a resumption of the economic activities and putting people back to work.”

President Ali added that his administration has reached out to several multilateral and bilateral sources to immediately mobilise financial resources of the magnitude that is necessary to overcome the effects of this pandemic.

“I must say the response has been encouraging.”