Dear Editor,
I must commend the management and staff of the New Building Society (NBS) for having the right vision to expand and diversify the range of financial services it offers. Just recently, I was walking around Georgetown and couldn’t help noticing the extremely beautiful headquarters they have put up in the city, which I must say, has transformed the look of that particular area.
The 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 in the country. If one were to look at the rate of progression of the society, it would be evident that the institution has come a very far way.
Immediate past Chair-man of NBS Dr Nanda Gopaul at the opening of the new headquarters related; “We started business, coming into being from a smaller housing society that had 39 properties under its care with a loan mortgage of about Gy$77,000 then.” He added that in 1983 the society surpassed its Gy$100 million mark, and between 1990-1998 assets moved to the range of nearly Gy$11 billion dollars, whilst today, the year 2012, it has moved to Gy$45 billion. Now that is quite an achievement in a matter of a few years.
Certainly, 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 housing drive which has transformed the landscape of our country 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.
The government must also be commended for the support they have given to the banking sector making it possible for banks and other lending institutions to expand their services and offer citizens competitive interest rates, thereby making it easier for ordinary Guyanese to become homeowners. This is the kind of entrepreneurial spirit we need in Guyana. We need optimists who will shun the negativities and take risks by expanding their investments and help to develop the country at the same time.
Yours truly,
M Hackett