Ashford W. Meikle, Staff Reporter
LEE CHIN
THE NATIONAL Commercial Bank (Jamaica) Limited (NCBJ) yesterday signed a 10-year US$30 million (J$1.8 billion) amortised loan facility with the international lending agency, International Finance Corporation (IFC).
In a press release National Commercial Bank said, "the long-term financing is intended to be the first step in building a relationship between the two organisations, and will support its expansion plans in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. The investment marks IFC's first direct financing to a Jamaican financial institution since 1989." The funds will add to NCB's existing pool of funds .
The IFC, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., is the private arm of the World Bank and promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries. It does not lend to governments.
At the signing at NCB's head office at the Atrium on Trafalgar Road, chairman of the NCB Group, Michael Lee Chin, reflected that, "Today is really a pivotal day in the bank's history - because here it is the beginning of a partnership with the world bank/IFC who will bring to us capital, who will bring to us expertise necessary to augment what we have, which will [contribute] to economic development in Jamaica and the Caribbean."
Mr. Lee Chin, who quipped, "Remember our philosophy is ... create wealth using other people's money," emphasised that, "As we all know the purpose of [NCB] is to build a better Jamaica." He said that he was proud "that NCB has progressed to this degree whereby the IFC has seen it fit to put confidence in us. This really underscores how far NCB has come to build confidence in the World Bank. We're looking forward to a long and prosperous partnership. There is a lot of work to be done and we're up to the challenge."
The managing director of NCB, Patrick Hylton, echoing his boss's views, elaborated that "The signing of the agreement with the IFC really underscores the IFC's confidence and the stamp of the IFC on the management and future prospects of NCB. I don't think they would be investing in us if they didn't have confidence in what we have done and what we are doing and what we hope to do."
According to Mr. Hylton the loan would give NCBJ "greater flexibility in terms of options that we might have for the utilisation of those proceeds particularly having regard to the long term nature of the facility." Reflecting on the potential synergies from the loan, he said, "I think this is just the genesis of a broader and deeper relationship with the IFC so that in a sense we have broken the ice and we hope to move on to greater things."
Mr. Hylton said that the bank would maintain the loan in the currency of denomination (that is, US$) and that "the funds are available en bloc."
Commenting on the lending agency's loan to NCB, IFC's director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Atul Mehta, noted, "From our perspective we're delighted to have NCBJ as a partner. We see a lot of commonality between what NCBJ is doing and what IFC would like to do in Jamaica and the region." Examining the macro significance of the loan, he said, "IFC's agenda is very similar to that of NCBJ. We're a developmental institution and we are looking to foster economic growth and the creation of jobs in Jamaica and that is partially what attracted us to NCBJ and also reflects our increasing involvement in Jamaica over the past few years."
He said the IFC was committed to creating "an environment that is conducive to increased investment growth. ... With this investment we're looking to broaden and deepen the financial sector. It is a reflection of both where Jamaica and NCBJ have come in the strengthening that's taking place in the financial sector in the past three or four years."
One of Jamaica's largest banks, NCB has total assets of over US$3 billion (J$186 billion) and total equity of about US$300 million (J$18.6 billion). It has over 50 retail outlets across the island.
