Detailed conditions for micro-loans from development bank

Last Updated on Thursday, 21 May 2026, 22:52 by Writer

The Minister of Government Efficiency, Zulfikar Ally, on Thursday listed several requirements to borrow zero interest and zero collateral loans of up to GY$3 million from the Guyana development bank when it opens its doors later this year.

Addressing a business luncheon hosted by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), he said the government would, among other things, be running a background check on the track record of loan applicants’ ability to pay their debts.

1. Obtain credit score
2. National Insurance Scheme compliance
3. Guyana Revenue Authority compliance
4. Digital identity card (preferably), though the existing identification card would also be accepted
5. Detailed business plan
6. Financial statements where applicable
7. Proof of address

Mr Ally said the bank’s finances would be audited by the Auditor General, and he was optimistic that borrowers would repay their loans from the bank. “Every account will be audited. Every injection from the government will be laid through Parliament. All the finances will be tabled in Parliament,” he said.

There was, so far, no plan to put a cap on disbursements.

While the minister said the key sectors that would attract financing from the development bank are agriculture and processing, tourism and hospitality, hospitality services and trade, and the creative and digital industries, he provided no insight into the government’s plans to protect intellectual property. “That’s a whole new sector that we are currently looking at,” he said.

The plan envisages businesses growing to the point that they may need more money to borrow.

He said the bank would facilitate engagements with commercial banks. “We are working very closely with the banks so that when you come in, and we sit and we work with you, and we go through your proposal, and we train you and we help you with expanding your business idea, then we take you to the commercial banks if you need more than $3 million,” he said.

He said the development bank would assist borrowers with financial literacy training, mentorship, business development assistance, and technical guidance to improve managerial capabilities, enhance sustainability, and enable business expansion.

Pressed a number of times on sustainability of the Guyana Development Bank because there would be no collateral and loans would not attract interest, the minister ruled out putting a cap on the bank after several billion Guyana dollars had been disbursed.

He said the government would continue to finance it. “The government is doing this so that we can unlock the potential of a segment of our society that have brilliant ideas but can’t have access to financing to see those ideas happen. So the government will obviously continue to put money into the bank,” he said.

The minister said the government had been paying attention to the “tried and tested” development bank models in India and Bangladesh, such as the latter’s Grameen Bank, a pioneer micro-credit organisation, which requires no collateral for credit owing to the aim of alleviating poverty and empowering the poor.