Brassington – ‘With booming oil industry, Guyana’s banking assets will grow five-fold’

Former head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Winston
Brassington, says as the government continues to aggressively develop its resources in the oil
and gas sector, there will inevitably be a massive influx of revenues for Guyana.

Brassington said with the booming petroleum industry, assets in Guyana’s banking system will
grow five-fold. The former NICIL CEO made the statement during his feature address to an
American Chamber of Commerce’s (AmCham) webinar on ‘Interest rates and banking in an era
of high economic growth.’ Brassington recalled that at the end of 2020, total bank loans in
Guyana totalled  GY$168B against the GY$630B in assets. He said that with the advent of oil
and gas in Guyana, he forecasts that total bank assets could multiply to GY$3T by the end of
2030. It is against this backdrop that Brassington believes that the interest rates for loans can be
reduced from 9 to 5 per cent. The former NICIL CEO noted that 5 per cent is still higher than the
average interest rate in the United States (US).
“If the bank were to double the loan to asset ratio, then total loans would increase significantly.
If we look at half of the bank assets in loan, and we look at the banking system growing as it is
projected to, by 2025 we can look at private sector loan advances at over $700 million,” he
explained.
Brassington called for the banking sector to innovate with the use of technology. In the US, he
reminded, customers are able to make wire transfers and cash a cheque from their desks. This
type of efficiency should be replicated in Guyana, he stressed. “We seem to still use a lot of
paper in our processes, a lot of manual requirements. The banks say that this is because of AML
requirements, knowing the customer and verifying the authenticity, but I think that there is room
to move to a more digital approach, a more online approach – an approach that would bring us
more in line with one standing banking practice in the US,” he said.
The former NICIL head said with the aim of creating a sustainable, reliable and equally
profitable banking sector, he is also encouraging dialogue between the central bank and the
private sector.