AMENDMENTS TO the Agricultural Credit Board Act have been passed in the Senate, allowing the removal of grant and loan-making functions from that body.
The Bill also proposes to provide for the strengthening of the supervisory and regulatory functions of the board to develop adequate information, control, evaluation and reporting systems to facilitate greater accountability and effective management. It also seeks to establish criteria regarding the minimum standard of solvency to be maintained, and to provide for the qualification requirements of auditors of agricultural loan societies, the frequency of audits and the provision of information by auditors to the board.
EMPOWER THE BOARD
The amendments also seek to empower the board to prescribe interest rates and general terms and conditions in respect of the granting of loans by agricutural loan societies under the Act, and set policy procedures to recover unpaid loans.
Piloting the Bill, Senator A.J. Nicholson, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, explained that the Act was originally established to provide the framework for the Agricultural Credit Board to regulate, supervise and monitor the operations of the People's Co-operative (PC) banking movement in Jamaica, as well as to encourage the establishment of new entities.
He noted that in its present form, the Act restricted the PC banks from achieving their goal of being independent, self-sustaining and profitable institutions. The Bill therefore sought to "strengthen the regulatory and supervisory functions of the Agricultural Credit Board and at the same time, to revoke its leading functions which for some time have been assumed by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ).
