Still on track

ACKNOWLEDGING that many persons expected recipients of the Trust Loan Fund to be delinquent in their payments, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Minister Kerrie Symmonds says this has not been the case. He was speaking during an interview produced by the Public Affairs Department on the state of the small business sector in Barbados on Sunday night.

According to Minister Symmonds: “I think that the percentages show that there has been a far better than anticipated performance. I wish I had the exact figures on the top of my mind, but you know, I shared them with the country during the by-election in October. And I believe from the Prime Minister back down was quite surprised at how well this has been going.

“And I think it also tells another story – a lot of Barbadians want to be able to have the independence of being in business, a lot of them see this as an opportunity to do something for themselves and their family that otherwise they would not have had. So take it seriously. That is not to say that you don't have one or two who have been delinquent. That is true. But our delinquency levels and nonperforming loans have not really been a substantial degree of concern at all.”

Minister Symmonds explained however that one mistake made was not appreciating the importance of business advisory support. “I have said in the Estimates, and I'll say here, business advisory support now strikes me as being critical to the way forward. Because right now we are lending people money, and we do say as part of the loan arrangement, that we want you now to benefit from a little bit of education … in order to help you manage this business.” He said while persons might have lost their jobs in the COVID-19 environment and decided to open their business, many lack basic skills in management. “And so we try to help you with that.”

He said this would include having a cadre of professionals from the private sector to give back their expertise in order to participate in the development of the country. “It is not only about throwing more and more money behind the business, I feel very strongly about that. You could have millions and millions of dollars invested by government... as being available for business assistance. If people don't have someone to hold their hand and help them navigate the pitfalls and understand some of the challenges involved in managing the business and then involved in planning the business's continuity, then you're going nowhere,” he said. (JH)