South Africa’s economy is rebounding as the country emerges from the devastating financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and financial institutions are ready to provide liquidity to businesses and individuals that survived the downturn.
This was the word from FNB CEO, Jacques Celliers, addressing journalists at a media briefing in Umhlanga on Thursday.
“FNB is properly open for business. There are opportunities for growth and it is really exciting, even if not all sectors are firing on all cylinders yet. Our country is still challenged a bit and our role is to get the economy going. Obviously, there are still a lot of concerns about what is happening in Europe.”
He said there were diverse opportunities for the local agricultural sector as well as in mining, since coal was now a “shining mineral” in terms of global demand.
Celliers said FNB was responsible for one-third of the country’ financial transactions, making it a significant player in economic recovery.
“We find ourselves in a very good position with where the market is going…and if we can generate liquidity and growth for the economy, it’s at a great scale. We have excess liquidity to support growth in the market,” he said.
He said FNB and other financial institutions currently had a good appetite for credit demand from low- to medium-risk business applicants, as the local banking sector was in good shape.
“There is significant appetite to support viable businesses. I think you will find it very hard for banks not to have a framework for (support) of legitimate businesses. We are not quite sure yet on high-risk categories. There is some capacity for that demand but I don’t expect us to be too much in that high-risk bucket.”
Celliers added that the bank was focused on helping businesses to grow financially after the impact of the pandemic.
“If you got through Covid-19 as a business or as an individual, you can do business, so we are really going to ensure that we lift society and help people improve themselves.”
