Dear Editor,

There was a very interesting news article in the Jamaica Observer which should’ve received more prominence and discussion: ‘IMF points fingers at banks for lack of growth’.

The article said the International Monetary Fund believes local lenders could do much better, stating that “greater banking sector competition, reducing collateral requirements, improving credit risk assessment, and developing non-traditional financial services will help improve access to financial services and reduce the interest rate spread.”

The report added that the 12 main lenders in the banking sector, supervised by the Bank of Jamaica, have one trillion dollars in assets, and the sector is dominated by the National Commercial Bank which made $6 billion in profit in its recent six-month report.

In a country such as ours, heavily in debt, with so much poverty, these banks certainly control a lot of wealth.

It is hoped that Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the new economic Czar Michael Lee-Chin who now chairs the new Economic Growth Council saw the article.

We know these banks have always played a leading role in economic development, but traditionally they also tend to make huge profits, often at the expense of economic development. Currently Jamaican banks are strangling economic progress with high fees, high lending rates, layers of bureaucracy and inefficiencies.

Many people conducting commercial business waste a lot of time dealing with banks these days, which can be frustrating and a major turn-off to anyone looking to invest. Even to open a new account is a hassle.

So while it is encouraging to see someone like Mr Lee-Chin carrying out the mandate to grow Jamaica’s economy by at least five per cent GDP annually, we hope he will not ignore the importance of the banking sector in cooperating to help achieve these targets.

We know that the Diaspora is a major contributor to Jamaica’s foreign exchange inflows with remittances, and yes, they could probably do much more in terms of investments, but it is just as important to get commercial banks on board.

We need to see more banks putting Jamaica first, they can still remain competitive and profitable, but they must be more innovative, and accommodating as they facilitate the level of investments needed to fuel economic growth, employment, and development.

P Chin