Marjory Kennedy

National Commercial Bank (NCB) has opened a credit window for exporters to borrow from a $500 million pool.

The financing agreement, signed by Jamaica Exporters' Association (JEA) president Dr. André Gordon and NCB deputy Group Managing Director Dennis Cohen, allows maximum loans of $15 million or US$250,000.

The loan floor is $500,000 or US$10,000 to the 412 members of the JEA members.

"Individual members can access funds for business-related expenses, including commercial expansion and restructuring initiatives, major expenses such as equipment purchases, building acquisition or development, financing commercial vehicles and overall working capital support," said an NCB release on the agreement.

NCB accounts

JEA members with NCB accounts will access the loans at 12.75 per cent for Jamaican dollar disbursements and 8.25 per cent for funds paid out in U.S. currency.

Non-customers will pay back borrowings at 16.75 per cent and 9.75 per cent, respectively. The loans are repayable within eight years.

Gordon, in his outgoing speech at the JEA's annual general meeting in Kingston Wednesday, said exports were poised for a record year.

"With luck, we could possibly break the US$2 billion mark for the first time," he said. "We are conservatively projecting total non-traditional exports to exceed US$567 million while total exports should exceed US$1.98 billion."

Gordon added that non-traditionals had grown by more than 20 per cent since 2004.

business@gleanerjm.com