Last Updated on Monday, 12 October 2026, 13:01 by Written By Denis Chabrol
President Irfaan Ali said government has virtually finalised negotiations with Republic Bank Guyana Limited and Demerara Bank Limited to offer low-interest loans to farmers as part of a wider push to ensure cheaper borrowings from all commercial banks.
“We have currently brought all of the commercial banks together and we are currently negotiating with them to offer the same type of incentive that we offer for low-income housing to banks for loans to agriculture so that those who want to go into more medium-large-scale production can get those loans at affordable rates,” he told the opening of the Farmers’ Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
Dr Ali said Republic Bank has already committed to set aside money for agricultural loans at a preferential rate to be announced before the end of the conference.
The President also said government was negotiating with Demerara Bank to further lower the interest rate for loans for the poultry sector below five percent. “We are now negotiating to even bring that lower through this incentive that we are going to offer,” he said.
He also said almost 30 percent of the applicants for collateral and interest-free loans of up to GY$3 million from the newly-formed Guyana Development Bank (GDB) are from the agricultural sector. “If there is one indication as to how the policy direction is leading to a new wave of excitement, a new wave in agriculture, it is this fact that almost 30% of all the applications so far in the development bank is in the agricultural sector,” he said.
The Guyana government did not immediately say how many loan applications have been removed so far.
