Small loans available from Eastern Caribbean Credit facility to small businesses

Entrepreneurs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), can have access to a new small loan guarantee launched by the Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Company (ECPCGC).

The New MSME Growth Guarantee, is designed specifically for entrepreneurs who may not qualify for loans under the main ECPCGC programme, the Center for Enterprise Development (CED) said in a release. The small loan guarantee facilitates ease of access to loans of up to EC$50,000.

The New MSME Growth Guarantee is being rolled out as a Christmas gift for entrepreneurs in SVG and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean to help them to get the funds they need to inject into their business operations. Entrepreneurs applying for loans do not need to have collateral or equity injection to access the loans, but will need to provide financial documents after the loan approval. For this, an allowance of up to EC$1,500 will also be provided for bookkeeping services.

A team led by chief executive officer of ECPCGC, Carmen Gomez-Trigg, will be in St. Vincent from December 2-6, 2024 to conduct face-to-face consultations with interested entrepreneurs. Business owners are required to book appointments with the ECPCGC through this link: https://form.jotform.com/243125729938870; or contact the ECPCGC via WhatsApp 869-662-8989 or email: info@ecpcgc.org.

The Centre for Enterprise Development Inc., said it is urging local entrepreneurs to take advantage of this opportunity to access some much-needed finance in light of their inability to meet the standard requirements for loans.

The ECPCGC was created in 2018 in response to the contraction of credit in the OECS banking system, and the need for MSMEs to have access to credit to grow their businesses. The project is a collaboration between the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the World Bank which has provided loans to select member countries, and provides technical assistance to the project. The participating governments are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint. Kitts and Nevis, Saint. Lucia, Saint. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The main objective of the ECPCGC is to issue guarantees to partner financial institutions so that clients who have insufficient collateral would now qualify for business loans. The guarantees provide the balance of the collateral to the lender. The funds could be used for the purchase of inventory, capital equipment, expansion or working capital. Participating lenders are commercial banks, development banks and credit unions. The local partner financial institutions are the Bank of SVG; Republic Bank EC; the SVG Teachers Cooperative Credit Union; and the St. Vincent Co-operative Bank Ltd.