2 October 2020 01:25 am
The Credit Information Bureau of Sri Lanka (CRIB) does not have the authority to issue regulations to banks or inform lending institutions not to grant loans even if there is a bad record in the CRIB, CRIB General Manager Nandi Anthony said.
He told the Daily Mirror that CRIB reports had become the criterion for banks to decline loans to people.
However, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance instructed State banks on September 9 to be more lenient when providing loans to the public-facing various economic issues.
"The CRIB cannot issue any regulations for banks. Lending decisions are the responsibility of the banks. What CRIB reports mainly provides is credit data, and the banks are expected not only to be guided by the CRIB report when granting credit facilities. The lending decision should be made after considering many aspects and the CRIB report is one of them," Mr Anthony said.
The CRIB is not a place to issue loans or to give relief. The CRIB is merely an institution providing credit data to lending institutions to facilitate credit. The CRIB maintains data on everyone who takes loans and over eight million people and institutions have taken loans and credit cards.
95 per cent of people and institutions have borrowed and service their debts well and only five per cent have found it difficult to service their debts.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRIB was expected by the Government, lenders and the borrowing public to ensure this period of the moratorium (The moratorium period starting from March ending September this year) no arrears was shown in the CRIB records. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)