Pres. Ali announces $900M revolving fund for forestry sector

Oct 30, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali on Friday announced that the Government of Guyana (GoG) will be collaborating with Demerara Bank to establish a $900 million revolving fund to support the forestry sector.

President Irfaan Ali

A revolving fund is a fund established for the specific purpose to give loans to members or to be expended or invested for a specific purpose with the condition that repayments or benefits or income from the fund may be used again for these purposes only.

President Ali made the announcement while delivering brief remarks at a Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) stakeholders’ engagement at the GFC Kingston office, Georgetown.

The Head of State stated that with the funds, the Government and the Commission will place more emphasis on the development and expansion of small and medium-scale loggers and community loggers associations. Ali said, “We are now going to unleash $900 million for the market to step up production, so that we can meet the demand, especially for the value-added product, and to push the sector, to give this sector a real boost because we are very concerned about the production level and where it should be to meet our national demand in the markets that we’re building.”

According to a statement from the Office of the President, once completed, the partnership between the Government and Demerara Bank will see the bank contributing $600 million and the Government $300 million. It was stated too that the fund will have an interest rate of 4 percent.

President Ali explained that the Government will work along with the bank to prequalify persons based on recommendations from the GFC – after which, a system will be put in place to give access to “bridge financing” in order to increase cash flow toward production.

The Head of State emphasised that his Government is committed to supporting small, medium and community-based loggers but that there must be “clarity, good governance, transparency, accountability and a system that works”.

The Government is also expected to continue to invest in infrastructure and encourage loggers to do their part in “accelerating the sector”. This, he said, is aimed at increasing production because he “is not happy with the production that we’re having now”.

Moreover, President Ali also met with staff from the GFC, listened to their concerns and provided on-the-spot solutions. One of the issues raised related to the late payment of salaries. To remedy this, the President said, a $100 million advance will be given to the GFC to ensure that all of their staff are paid on time.