Gov’t housing drive spurred loan demands-President Ramotar - lauds NBS for being a market leader in provision of housing loans
Georgetown, GINA, June 15, 2012 - Source
A section of those gathered for the opening ceremony of the New Building Society
The New Building Society (NBS) which has been at the forefront of providing home loans, has a solid history of achievements rising from a small building to today, being one of the foremost loan agencies, President Donald Ramotar stated at the Society’s opening of its new head office at the corner of Avenue of the Republic and North.
The Head of State congratulated the entity’s Board of Directors who undertook the construction of the new head office which will enhance downtown Georgetown and allow the institution to better accommodate the staff and meet the growing demands for its services.
“The move from the modest accommodation to this much larger building is a natural progression considering the growth of the country’s housing market over the past 20 years… and the concomitant demand for housing loans,” the Head of State opined.
President Donald Ramotar cutting the ribbon to officially declare open the new chief office building for the New Building Society
“The housing drive has transformed the landscape of our country…large new settlements have sprung up…this has lead to significant population shifts…so large are some of these new schemes that a decision was taken to eventually upgrade some of them to the status of secondary towns…this alone speaks of the expansive nature of the country’s housing drive,” the Head of State said.
He explained that the housing drive has been one of the foundational policies of the PPP/C government from its very inception and in turn has spawned the growing demand for home loans from the commercial banks and, from the NBS as well.
“In this market the New Building Society has carved its own niche…it has long been the source of financial capital for small borrowers and, in the face of a deluge of applications for housing loans was able to muster the organisational and managerial capacity to respond to this increase in demand…today it is a market leader in the provision of loans that has allowed tens of thousands of Guyanese to finally realise their dreams of owning their own homes for the first time,” the Head of State said.
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo in similar manner congratulated the leadership and staff for the acquisition of the new building.
President Donald Ramotar, flanked by senior government officials and the staff and board of directors of the New Building Society
“It was only through visionary leadership, not only in the acquisition of this building but the growth in the society itself, could have taken place and the visionary leadership also had to be complemented by a characteristic that is vital in Guyana today-‘ the will to fight for what you believe in’,” Jagdeo said.
Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh said that the government has long recognised the importance of a vibrant, strong, well- managed financial system and how critical such a system is to the overall economic health of the country and the economic wellbeing of Guyanese.
“For this reason over the years, we have spared no effort in ensuring that the critical prerequisites for such a strong financial system are in place…these prerequisites are well known and include an appropriate legislative environment,” Dr. Singh said.
He added that strong legislations are in place because of a deliberative effort to ensure that the fundamentals are in place, along with strong and effective supervisory capability residing in the Central Bank.
“We have seen a manifesting of prior expectations of a close correlation between this strong financial system and vibrancy in the economy as a whole and, indeed the correlation between things like growth in home ownership and national prosperity,” the Finance Minister said.
He added the successes of the national housing programme are evident for all to see, as entire new communities which did not exist 10-15 years ago, such as Diamond/Grove, Parfait Harmonie amongst others which were abandoned cane fields, are now very much in existence and are vibrant centres of population growth.
Immediate past Chairman of NBS and Minister of Labour, Dr. Nanda Gopaul said that the institution was created under the laws of Guyana Chapter 36:21 in 1940.
“We started business, coming into being from a smaller housing society that had 39 properties under its care with a loan mortgage of about $77,000 then,” Dr. Gopaul said.
He added that in 1983 the society surpassed is $100M mark and between 1990-1998 assets moved to the range of nearly $11B dollars, whilst today, the year 2012, it has moved to $45B.
“This growth has been because of the aggressive government housing drive coupled with aggressive marketing and the establishment of offices at seven locations throughout this country...we have worked with our team of lawyers and has been able to push housing loans not only aggressively, but efficiently…we have removed the bottlenecks which previously prevailed…I doubt whether a single ordinary man would approach the doors of our society for a loan and would be turned down as there is a loan for everyone who has a house-lot under their name.,” Dr. Gopaul said.