Last Friday, 7News told you about Manager Jose Marin's acrimonious departure from the National Bank of Belize, only 6 months after the bank first opened its doors.
Marin gave a laundry list of reasons for his clashes with the board, but one of the ugly one was his contention that Minister Joy Grant, who is the Chair of the Bank's Board, used her influence to push through a loan for her Ministry's CEO, Colin Young, with a preferential interest rate and preferential terms.
That's a major allegation from a veteran banker, for an institution created as a sort of pro-poor initiative to provide banking services at a competitive rate. So, when Young was spotted at another event today, the media made a bee-line for him, and asked him to respond directly to Marin's claim. Here's how he responded:
Dr. Colin Young - CEO, Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology, and Public Utilities
"I categorically deny any such thing. You can get any additional from the bank. They bank has internal processes that are set up, and those processes were followed on every instance. So, I suggest that information can be gotten from the bank, but I categorically deny any culpability that was alleged by Mr. Marin."
Mike Rudon - Channel 5 News
"Sir, in the beginning, when the back was set up, the purpose, as stated by everybody up to the Director, Joy Grant, was that it would serve for lower to middle-income Belizeans, public officers, teachers. Do you classify yourself - or category as a lower/middle income Belizean? You're a CEO; the understanding was that it wasn't for the upper bracket of officers in Government."
Dr. Colin Young
"Well, my understanding was that while the bank has a facility that will target people who are "lower and middle income", the bank also has the facility to act for other Belizeans to access it, including things like vehicle loans, refinancing, and business loans."
A new female assistant manager with substantial banking experience was installed on Monday and Chairman Grant says that the post of manager will be advertised.
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