Does the NCBA still “give” loans? The answer was an emphatic “yes” coming from Mr. Jason Richardson, NCBA’s Assistant Credit Manager. He was at the time speaking at the recent NCBA Mortgage Fair which was held at the Scouts & Guides gazebo in The Valley on Friday, January 18th. There, while addressing the gathering, he sought to dispel any notion that the bank was no longer willing to lend to those who were in need of financial assistance, especially for the construction of their homes.
Since the passage of Hurricane Irma last year, Anguilla’s floundering economy dipped to an all time low. With hotels being significantly affected by the passage of the storm, this downturn was evident particularly in the tourism sector. The economy grew in 2016 at a rate of 2.5%. But the decline due to Hurricane Irma caused a negative growth rate of -3.5%.
Evidently, there is now a revival in the economy. Now with many of the once-crippled hotels now fully refurbished and opened. Work is on the boom once more and, to put it bluntly, money is once more circulating. Hence, the bank’s doors are indeed opened to the potential borrower.
At last Friday’s Fair were also other exhibitors such insurance companies, real estate agencies, and Lake’s-Do-It-Best Hardware, as well as property appraisers, and ANGLEC. The importance of these entities’ presence was due to their involvement as facilitators for one acquiring a mortgage loan, or to assist the borrower after a mortgage would have been acquired.
The Anguillian spoke with Mrs. Cassila Bernier-Hull who is NCBA’s Credit Manager. She noted: “We call this event a ‘fair’ because of how it is organized. It is not just NCBA here as a bank, but along with us there are all the players involved in the setting up of your mortgage. We have the property appraisers, companies that sell land and houses, and insurance companies. We also have ANGLEC who can give guidance on how you can get the electricity to your home, etc.”
Mrs. Bernier-Hull declared that there had never been an instance where the bank was never willing to lend. She said that was only the public’s perception. She noted: “As we can see, the economy is picking up once again after the passage of Hurricane Irma. The major hotels are opened now, and people are employed. So, we have an opportunity here to reach out to those persons who, during the downturn, might have been unable to access financing. So we are in fact here to let the public know that indeed we are lending.”
Mrs. Avonelle Caragliano, Strategy Marketing and Business Development Manager, commented: “This is NCBA’s first Mortgage Fair, and the strategy behind it is to get persons, who are interested in building, buying or upgrading their homesk, to come and speak to our credit officers to find out what we can offer them in terms of helping them to get their homes built or repaired.”
The Fair began at 9:00 and ended at 2:00 p.m., and by all accounts it was a successful first venture, and the public hopes that there could be another such event sometime soon.
