SBB boasts over $1BILLION in loans over four years – CEO

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DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, December 18, 2018

The Small Business Bureau (SBB) said it has been able to facilitate the disbursement of some $1Billion in loans over the last four years.

While the entity does not provide loans, it assists its clients in accessing funds from the commercial banks.

SBB’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Lowell Porter told a year-end press conference this morning, that since 2014, the organisation has been able to assist many of its clients in accessing funds from the financial institutions.

“The SBB does not lend money, we do not have a lending programme and there are only two commercial banks in Guyana that support the programme and those banks have the final decision on who gets the loan and how much they get,” he told members of the media at the entity’s La Penitence office.

Data has shown that there has been a very small per cent of delinquent clients in this regard. This year, over 50 per cent of clients have been successful in their loan applications.

“The delinquency on those loans are extremely low, less than half a per cent. So, when you compare that to what is going on today with the commercial banks, I believe in partnership with SBB. We screen our clients, we ensure that they have everything in line and we continue that relationship with them and that I believe is important,” the CEO said.

The SBB has exceeded its 2018 targets. The target for training was set at 714. The SBB was, however, able to train 916 as of October 31.

The target for loan guarantees was set at 55, however, 66 loans were guaranteed by the organisation. From an original target of 127 for grants, 165 were disbursed.

Some of the training this year included former employees of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

Alexis Rodney.

Images: Anil Seelall.