The government is to undertake a sweeping overhaul of Fund Access and Trust Loans in 2026, part of a wider plan to reform debt financing and unlock capital for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the minister for business, Senator Lisa Cummins said on Tuesday.
Traditional banking systems, which focus on short repayment cycles for MSMEs, are stifling possible long-term growth, Senator Cummins declared at the Innovation Growth Market (IGM) 200 Conference on Powering a New Growth Agenda for Barbadian Enterprises at the Hilton Barbados Resort.
The government’s plan to restructure Fund Access and Trust Loans is intended to better meet the needs of MSMEs as she criticised the current state of small business credit.
“In 2026 there must be a new look to Fund Access. It has to be, and it is being deconstructed and reconstructed to meet the needs of our MSMEs,” she said. “If the commercial banks, commercial sector are not going to restructure their operations to meet your needs, we as the government must do so, and so Fund Access is going to be positioned to do a few things.
“In a new and revamped modern Fund Access, we need to be looking at extended loan terms, strengthening repayment, lengthening repayment horizons, building those community financing partnerships, alongside our credit unions and the cooperatives.”
The restructuring plan is a response to the country’s “outdated” debt-financing model, according to the business minister.
She said: “Our traditional debt system is outdated for modern enterprise, and even more so for MSMEs. What we have in traditional banking systems focuses on collateral, not capacity. It prioritises security, which I understand, but it does not do so for sustainability. It traps too many SMEs in short repayment cycles, ten years, 15 years, with front-loaded costs and little breathing space. That’s not patient capital, that’s pressure capital. We have to change this.”
The minister called for financial advancement: “We need longer terms, longer amortisation and more flexible repayment options. We need to shift from short-term loans to long-term confidence.”
Senator Cummins told the more than 300 businesses registered for the conference that the event was about connecting innovation to opportunity and enterprise to investment.
She also pointed to a gap in business development support in Barbados, which she has called on Fund Access to fill.
“How do we pair that financing that we’re going to be providing with business development at an accelerated level and mentorship for every single business in the room? Fund Access must do that in 2026 in its new model.
New products and services must also be the order of the day for 2026 to cater to those underserved and underrepresented needs. Direct pathways to the commercial banking system must also be created.”
Cummins also raised issue with the lack of a transition process between Trust Loans and Fund Access, saying this must change in 2026.
“The notion that Trust Loans and Fund Access have entirely separate approval processes for loans, and they don’t allow you to transition from one to the other, in 2026 must go away. Those two agencies must have a direct pathway. If I borrowed $5 000 from Trust Loans, I’ve gone back and borrowed $10 000, and then I’m looking to borrow another $10 000 — how am I starting from scratch from Fund Access? Fund Access, equally alongside Trust Loans, must create that pathway,” she said.
The minister disclosed that the government has already begun work with the Cave Hill School of Business and the Barbados Bankers Association to develop an MSME Roadmap that will include both institutions and commercial banks.
“When we make capital patient, businesses breathe, and when businesses breathe, they grow,” Senator Cummins said. “When businesses grow, especially in an economy where 95 per cent of all businesses are MSMEs, our economy grows and our people thrive.”
She added that reforming Fund Access and Trust Loans, along with the new Innovation Growth Market, will allow small firms to move beyond resilience to growth.
“This is not a hand-up economy. This is a hand-in-hand, hand-in-glove economy built on partnership, purpose and patience,” Cummins said. “The Innovation Growth Market is our bridge from resilience to scale, from ambition to achievement. Barbados is ready.”
(LG)
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