The flip side of this, though, is greater risk, because higher interest rates place an additional strain on borrowers. Furthermore, higher interest rates have depressed securities prices – banks have been forced to recognise impairments and have already depleted almost all their unrealised reserves.
For the medium term, it will be important for Government, the banks and the business sector to work to enhance small business development programmes. 10. The Central Bank is able to give the assurance that foreign exchange availability would not be a bottleneck to production. As noted earlier, the prospect is for buoyant energy prices.