Dominican entrepreneurs will have access to another EC$19 million in concessionary financing starting in December as the government moves to expand a small-business loan programme that has already provided financing to more than 500 businesses.
Finance Minister Dr. Irving McIntyre announced during the 2026-2027 National Budget on Tuesday that Government will make the additional money available through the AID Bank for onward lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Loans will be provided at 3.5 percent interest on a reducing balance, with repayment periods of up to 10 years and a six-month grace period covering both principal and interest,” he said.
According to him, the terms were intentionally structured to assist businesses when they are most financially vulnerable.
“These terms are designed to protect cash flow when a business is most vulnerable: during start-up or expansion,” he told Parliament.
The new funding follows an earlier EC$27.8 million MSME Loan Facility that benefited 554 businesses. Furthermore, he noted that all available money in that programme had been assigned by March 31, 2026.
“Beneficiaries were drawn from agriculture, tourism, transportation, manufacturing and the service industries,” he stated.
McIntyre stated that uptake showed that local entrepreneurs are prepared to expand when affordable financing is available.
He asserted that government views micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as central to employment and economic diversification.
“These businesses are not on the margins of the economy,” McIntyre said, noting that they are often where Dominicans “earn their first wage, develop an idea [and] build a livelihood.”
