MANILA – The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has flagged as detrimental to the banking system a provision in the House of Representatives’ version of Bayanihan 2, giving a 365-day moratorium on loans.
In a statement Friday, MAP president Francis Lim said it would be better to adopt the Senate version of the bill, which limits the loan moratorium to only one month.
“The 365-day loan moratorium under the House version of the Bayanihan 2, while ostensibly good for our citizens in the short run, may have unintended adverse consequences for the country that can potentially exacerbate the negative impact of the pandemic,” Lim said.
He added that a longer period of suspension of loan payments would “put to risks our banks’ ability to service the withdrawals of their clients” and affect the public’s confidence in the banking system.
PHP11 trillion, or about 78 percent of the total PHP14 trillion deposits, has been lent to the public, Lim said, noting that about 70 percent of the depositors are non-borrowers.
“It will also drastically lessen the banks’ liquidity, curtailing their capacity to lend at a time when businesses badly need capital to help them recover from the pandemic,” he said, adding that this would cause grave damage to the economy and require significant time and resources to recover. (PNA)
