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Scandal in banking sector
published: Tuesday | November 28, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Devon Dick
At the recent meeting of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks, held in Port-of-Spain, <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Trinidad</SPAN>, November 15-18, a director in one of the leading <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">banks</SPAN> in the Caribbean bemoaned the wide spread between interest rates on savings and that on <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">loans</SPAN>.
He said that the rates in the Caribbean are much wider than those in the developed international markets and within the Caribbean, <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Jamaica</SPAN> and Guyana have the worse spread. In Jamaica and Guyana it is between nine per cent and 11 per cent while in the international market it is two per cent-three per cent. This is a scandal in the banking sector.
I use the word scandal in the Greek sense meaning, a stumbling block. This wide spread between savings rate and loan rate is a stumbling block to greater development in Jamaica. It is a disincentive to borrow money for investment in businesses.
It is an open secret that the spread is a major cause for banks doing well.
In [B]
Scandal in banking sector
published: Tuesday | November 28, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Devon Dick
At the recent meeting of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks, held in Port-of-Spain, <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Trinidad</SPAN>, November 15-18, a director in one of the leading <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">banks</SPAN> in the Caribbean bemoaned the wide spread between interest rates on savings and that on <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">loans</SPAN>.
He said that the rates in the Caribbean are much wider than those in the developed international markets and within the Caribbean, <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Jamaica</SPAN> and Guyana have the worse spread. In Jamaica and Guyana it is between nine per cent and 11 per cent while in the international market it is two per cent-three per cent. This is a scandal in the banking sector.
I use the word scandal in the Greek sense meaning, a stumbling block. This wide spread between savings rate and loan rate is a stumbling block to greater development in Jamaica. It is a disincentive to borrow money for investment in businesses.
It is an open secret that the spread is a major cause for banks doing well.
In [B]