FORMER law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has urged the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed to have a serious discussion with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) if he wants the banks to have a new lease of life to help the country.
According to Zaid, Mustapa (also known as Tok Pa), had reminded banks to do more to help rebuild the economy, particularly in helping the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
“This reminder from the minister is timely. He wanted the banks to do more to help alleviate poverty and the difficulties suffered by small businesses,” Zaid said in a Facebook post.
However, he went on to point out that the central bank “suffers from the same hang-ups as other Government institutions” and that “they like to control and extend their overreach when it is not necessary”.
“To get the banks in this country re-energised in helping the lower-income groups, Tok Pa needs to have tea with the Governor and her team,” Zaid suggested.
“BNM has to buy in on what Tok Pa and the Government are planning for the economy.
“It’s one thing to insist on a suitable deposit ratio so that banks do not go helter-skelter with their lending…but it’s not necessary for Bank Negara to micromanage the banks and inhibit the move forward.”
Zaid recounted the time when he went to a local bank and wanted to open an account for his farm in Kelantan.
“After waiting weeks on my application, I was told that they needed to get clearance from ‘higher-ups’ because apparently I was a politically-connected person,” he claimed.
“[The bank officer] said he needed to comply with Bank Negara guidelines. I was never involved in any big deals where money changed hands, and never was I involved in money laundering, so why do they need to be so thorough for a retired man to open an account for his coconut farm?”
Zaid further narrated that he had owed a local bank some money and had been diligent in paying the debt.
“But the bank tells me they still have to keep me on a ‘Special Attention Account’ – a ‘watch list’ – until the debt is fully paid.
“Despite the settlement, Bank Negara Circular dated May 25, 2006 imposed on all banks participating in CCRIS (Central Credit Reference Information System) to report ‘delinquents’ like me.
“The whole country now knows of my financial situation. I doubt I can get any loan now, post-COVID-19. I thought someone who is diligent and wants to pay his debt should not have to suffer ‘blacklisting’ and humiliation but support instead.
“So unless Bank Negara is willing to take a fresh look at its role in the new post-COVID-19 world and revamp some of their current guidelines, Tok Pa’s advice (for banks to do more to help rebuild the country’s economy) will not mean much to the rakyat,” he concluded. – Sept 23, 2021
