National Development Bank (NDB) Branch in Kokopo got a surprise and heavy duty ministerial visit on Friday Jan 22.
In attendance were Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Commerce and Industry Sam Basil, Lands and Physical Planning Minister John Rosso, National Planning Minister Rainbo Paita and host Gazelle MP and Health Minister Jelta Wong.
NDB Branch manager Karen Joseph and her staff, at short notice, rose to the occasion with pertinent brief highlighting concerns about financial illiteracy and importance of collaterals needed to increase loan portfolios and therefore revenue to the bank.
The cumbersome loans application requirements, financial illiteracy and lack of collaterals were identified as among the major reasons for clients to bypass NDB in favour of savings & loans societies.
Basil noted the importance of financial literacy and will help drive it with a view also to collapse application information requirements to pertinent personal and business information.
Minister Rosso, made aware of issues related to use of plantation land as collateral indicated that his department would expedite registrations of Incorporated Land Groups to help with communally owned or Cooperative Societies owned land. Plantation land has thus far not been appreciated as collateral in the cooperative society and/or communally owned land.
In the light of loan write-offs by NDB including over K20 million in 2019, the ministerial delegation was pleasantly surprised to hear there were no loan write-off over the last two years by NDB Kokopo.
Minister Wong invited his fellow NEC colleagues for a two-day visit of pertinent institutions and business enterprises in his district which began with a courtesy call on East New Britain Governor Nakikus Konga at Gazelle International Hotel yesterday.