AKEL’s fears about the ESTIA Scheme’s ineffectiveness confirmed
Statement by AKEL Press Spokesperson, Stefanos Stefanou after the meeting of the Parliamentary Finance Committee on the ESTIA Scheme
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 25th May 2020, Nicosia
According to the briefing we received today, unfortunately, AKEL’s grave concerns about the lack of effectiveness of the scheme to address the problem of non-performing loans have been confirmed. So, apart from the erroneous orientation of the ESTIA Scheme, at the same time it has proven to be ineffective. The Scheme’s ineffectiveness becomes even more pronounced due to the misunderstanding, sometimes even confusion prevailing among those involved in the Scheme. It is disappointing that while the initial figures released by the Ministry of Finance itself referred to approximately 15,000 beneficiaries of the Scheme, so far there are only 152 applications in the final stage.
I must say that so far the Government has not given any indication whatsoever of what they will do with regards vulnerable borrowers, as it has also not said anything about consistent borrowers. At the same time, despite the fact that it has decided to suspend the foreclosures for all those who made an application to the ESTIA Plan, nevertheless, no one knows what is happening with the credit companies and the asset sales companies, which are either subsidiaries or affiliated to them.
