The government decided to eliminate the corporate income tax on money received by commercial banks when providing loans to farmers in the poultry industry, the president, Dr. Irfaan Ali, declared on Saturday.
According to him, local commercial banks will reduce their loan interest rates for the poultry industry from 8% to 5%. The President declared during his live announcement from State House in Georgetown that this law will go into force on Monday.
This action was approved by Citizens Bank, Republic Bank, Demerara Bank, and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). “All investments in the poultry sector will benefit from this… Reduced cost of financing will be available to the sector,” Dr. Ali posited.
Further, Dr. Ali explained that the government pursued this intervention as part of efforts to control the input costs for the sector. And the decision was taken following discussions with poultry farmers.
The President also pointed out that this intervention follows other measures instituted to provide support to farmers including the construction of farm to market roads, removing relevant taxes and stimulating investments needed to reduce inputs like animal feed.