Jun 2015 Financial News

Funding boost

Jun 10, 2015

SCOTIABANK will be making a $50 million loan fund available over the next six months for small- and medium-sized businesses in Barbados.

The boost in financing which is being made available under the Scotiabank Economic Growth Fund was announced yesterday by the Bank’s Managing Director – Caribbean East, David Noel. The financing will be available at discounted rates and the bank will be waiving their usual commitment fees. 

Noel explained at the Fund’s launch at Courtyard by Marriott, that the financing facility is targeting businesses seeking to expand, modernise their operations, or purchase new equipment, so that they can become more efficient and productive. 

“We are also targeting businesses that are looking to ‘go green’ and implement energy saving solutions,” Noel stated.

He added that in addition to the Economic Growth Fund for Barbados, “we are simultaneously launching another one, worth EC$ 50 million, for the Eastern Caribbean islands where we operate”.

According to him, “As far as I know, Scotiabank is the only private sector institution in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean to offer such a programme. We have worked very hard to develop a programme we believe can seriously benefit the private sector and help to boost our local economies.”

Noel said they have taken this step “because we at Scotiabank believe that we have a responsibility to help grow our economy”.

He pointed out that while Government has a critical role to play, they can’t solve all of the issues on their own. 

“We all have to get involved in finding solutions to our economic challenges,” he noted. 

“Scotiabank has been in Barbados for nearly 60 years, so we’re not just a bank – we are a part of this community, and we have to be a partner in building the community. 

“Joining the effort to stimulate our economy benefits us all. If we can help companies expand, then they can create jobs and contribute to the growth of the economy.”

Donville Inniss, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, extended his support of the imitative.

“We congratulate Scotiabank on the initiative targeting small enterprises. It certainly is a manifestation of the faith that this bank has in the Barbados economy, and in the work that the Minister of Finance, the entire Cabinet and Government has been doing to resuscitate the Barbados economy,” the Minister said. 

He went on: “It is indeed correct to say that the Government cannot do it all, our role in Government is to facilitate, provide the enabling environment that the private sector, banks, and commercial enterprises can then spring forth.”

Inniss pointed out that entrepreneurs often times lament on the challenges they face in securing adequate financing for their enterprises. Therefore, he stated, what Scotiabank is offering will help allay some of the concerns and further stimulate this economy.

The Minister revealed, “The Ministry of Commerce is currently undertaking a complete review of the micro and small business sector in Barbados, aimed at creating the right type of policy space so we can develop this very important sector. The government is of the firm view that the small business sector, in particular, is the one that will continue to drive this economy... create jobs, earn and save foreign exchange, and our entrepreneurs, especially young people in particular, can achieve their full potential. 

“The plan is, by August of this year, we will be going to Cabinet with a new policy designed around enhancing the micro and small business sector in Barbados. We are at the stage where the final draft document is being prepared... that would certainly create the platform that we could continue to diversify the small business sector.

“What Scotiabank is offering, I’m sure will be well received by the business community, but it is not only about money... at the end of the day, the individual business person needs to have a clear vision…the right strategic plan, business plan, accounting practices etc... 

“We believe in the new Barbados that is emerging, that the small business sector will play an even more important role than in the past,” he said.
(NB)

Source:
Barbados Advocate
Wednesday June 10, 2015

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=43921