By La Caribeña News Desk • Georgetown, Guyana • May 24, 2026
SUMMARY
The new Guyana Development Bank’s co-financing arm allows approved borrowers to stack up to G$10 million from commercial banks at preferential rates onto the development bank’s own G$3 million zero-interest, zero-collateral loan. Total stack: up to G$13 million per borrower.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana. The new Guyana Development Bank has engaged several commercial banks to operate a co-financing arm that allows approved borrowers to stack up to G$10 million in additional capital at preferential interest rates onto the development bank’s own G$3 million loan, Hon. Zulfikar Ally, Minister of Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation, told members of the Guyana Manufacturing & Services Association (GMSA) on Thursday. The two-tranche structure raises the total available capital per borrower to up to G$13 million when both portions are approved.
The financing stack works as follows:
- Tranche 1: Up to G$3 million from the Guyana Development Bank, with zero interest and no collateral required
- Tranche 2: Up to G$10 million from partnered commercial banks at preferential interest rates, available only after the development bank portion is in place
- Total ceiling: Up to G$13 million per borrower if both tranches approved
How the stack works
The development bank does the primary work of vetting an applicant, refining their business plan, and connecting them to mentorship and technical guidance before disbursing the first tranche. That vetting reduces the risk profile commercial banks would otherwise face if approached directly by a first-time entrepreneur, sole trader, or operator in one of the bank’s five priority sectors. The commercial banks then come to the table on the strength of the development bank’s assessment.
The structure means a borrower deals with one entry point, the development bank, but can access financing scaled to a level traditional commercial channels do not normally extend to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
What it changes for borrowers
The G$3 million ceiling at the development bank, while substantial for a first-time entrepreneur, is not large enough on its own to fund operations that require scaled equipment, real estate, or sustained working capital. The co-financing arm closes that gap. A small operator with an idea for tourism cottages, an agro-processing line, or a creative-industries venture can now layer the two tranches and reach a capital level that would have been functionally unreachable under either lender alone.
The mechanism also extends the bank’s eligibility framework, including the recently confirmed eligibility of public servants with private business interests and the priority designation of women, youth, and differently abled entrepreneurs, to the commercial-bank credit pool that has historically been inaccessible to those groups.
A formal launch date for the bank, and the list of partnered commercial banks, has not been publicly announced.
Related coverage
GMSA luncheon series
- Development Bank “For Every Guyanese,” Minister Ally Says, Not Just Georgetown — Article 1 of the series
- Guyana Development Bank: Public Servants Eligible, With Conflict-of-Interest Rules — Article 2 of the series
- Women, Youth, and Differently Abled Entrepreneurs Named Priority Groups for Guyana Development Bank — Article 3 of the series
- Guyana Development Bank Names Five Priority Sectors, From Agriculture to Digital — Article 4 of the series
Earlier LCN coverage