KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke says with the lowering of the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) policy interest rate, more businesses can now access well-needed capital at affordable rates.

Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Caribbean Leadership Project (CLP)at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston today, Clarke said that the BOJ has lowered its policy interest rate eight times since October 2016 from “five per cent in eight moves downwards to two per cent” as at June 27.

To this end, Clarke urged business operators to familiarise themselves with the opportunities available to them and the various lending rates.

“As a result of that, banks have the incentive to lend to businesses at lower and lower rates, so medium-sized and small businesses need to demand from their financial institutions that they benefit from these reductions in interest rates,” he stated.

He added that business owners should “put themselves in a position to shop their businesses around to alternative institutions if their financial institutions refuse to lower their interest rates”.

The two-day symposium is being held under the theme ‘Building Leadership Resilience: From Surviving to Thriving’.

The CLP is an initiative funded by the Government of Canada to support the leadership and economic development training needs of national public sectors in 12 CARICOM countries and key regional organisations.

The countries participating in the project are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.