Confederation to Protect Interests of SMEs demands revision of ‘black lists’ of borrowers
YEREVAN, October 23. / ARKA /. The Confederation to Protect the Interests of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses will ask the Central Bank of Armenia to revise the "black lists" of loan defaulters, the chairman of the Confederation, Tigran Hovhannisyan, announced today.
"We demand that the Central Bank revise the credit histories of our fellow citizens who for one or another reason appeared in the" black lists "of loan defaulters,’ Hovhannisyan said, warning that if the Central Bank does not respond to their demand, they will organize an open-end protest action.
Hovhannisyan added that they also intend to demand government’s intervention in the revision of "black lists" and announcing credit amnesty.
"Lending terms get tightened with every passing year. Today, in order to issue a loan, banks require three guarantors, as well as documents, certifying fixed salaries of potential borrowers. This happens in a country with a 50% level of poverty. In other cases, when a family member is put into the "black list" of the bank, this becomes a reason for refusing loans to other members of the family, ‘he added, describing this treatment of borrowers as ‘inhuman.’
Hovhanissyan was backed by Armen Babayan, the chairman of the Union of Armenian Jewelers, who added that the banks’ lending policy makes many small and medium-sized businesses to cease operation.
He also said that after the latest changes in the tax system 10% of enterprises engaged in jewelry business shut down.
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, the share of non-performing and written off loans in July 2015 decreased by 0.49 percentage points to 7.74%. Credit investments of Armenia-based commercial banks in the third quarter of 2015 decreased by 4.3% from the beginning of the year to 2.074.1 trillion drams.
According to official figures, production of jewelry in January-August 2015 in Armenia amounted to 11.15 billion drams, a 59% rise form the same period of 2014.-0-
"We demand that the Central Bank revise the credit histories of our fellow citizens who for one or another reason appeared in the" black lists "of loan defaulters,’ Hovhannisyan said, warning that if the Central Bank does not respond to their demand, they will organize an open-end protest action.
Hovhannisyan added that they also intend to demand government’s intervention in the revision of "black lists" and announcing credit amnesty.
"Lending terms get tightened with every passing year. Today, in order to issue a loan, banks require three guarantors, as well as documents, certifying fixed salaries of potential borrowers. This happens in a country with a 50% level of poverty. In other cases, when a family member is put into the "black list" of the bank, this becomes a reason for refusing loans to other members of the family, ‘he added, describing this treatment of borrowers as ‘inhuman.’
Hovhanissyan was backed by Armen Babayan, the chairman of the Union of Armenian Jewelers, who added that the banks’ lending policy makes many small and medium-sized businesses to cease operation.
He also said that after the latest changes in the tax system 10% of enterprises engaged in jewelry business shut down.
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, the share of non-performing and written off loans in July 2015 decreased by 0.49 percentage points to 7.74%. Credit investments of Armenia-based commercial banks in the third quarter of 2015 decreased by 4.3% from the beginning of the year to 2.074.1 trillion drams.
According to official figures, production of jewelry in January-August 2015 in Armenia amounted to 11.15 billion drams, a 59% rise form the same period of 2014.-0-