AKEL draft bill to ban sale of small borrower’s loans to vulture banks
Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 12th November 2015, Nicosia
The responsibilities of the government and ruling forces, the Troika, banks and the Central Bank are enormous for the creation and constant increase in the unprecedented number of non-performing loans (NLP’s), given that the banking crisis continues to be the Cyprus economy’s misfortune and main danger.
Proof of how big the government’s “success story” is in addressing the banking crisis is the fact that the government and ruling forces, even today, need to blackmail the Cypriot people so as to convince it to continue to enjoy the fruits of this imaginary “success story”.
AKEL will never accept the new collective punishment of the Cypriot people through the imminent severe haircut on small borrower’s immovable property, on their guarantors and the further haircut on the values of immovable properties.
The failed, unfair and punitive austerity policies and socialization of the losses of the banks must be replaced by policies boosting growth and the promotion of bold and fair restructuring plans for small-borrowers.
At the same time, a legislative ban on the sale of small borrower’s loans to the vulture Funds is imperative. It is also necessary to utilize state structures to protect small-borrowers from the foreclosure of their primary family home or small business premises through the purchase of their loans by the banks and the formulation of fair and sustainable restructuring plans on the basis of social criteria.
We again call on the opposition parties to cooperate within this framework. AKEL on its part will vote for all the amendments that seek to improve the government’s bill. We hope and wish that the other opposition parties will do the same in relation to the draft Bill submitted by AKEL, which is the only one that offers significant hope to small-borrowers so that they can avoid the clutches of the speculative funds.
