The Legislature Must Intervene On Bills Due And Owing
Over the past week in the face of the Covid 19 public emergency, the Central Bank announced that it had managed with the clearinghouse banks to obtain a moratorium on mortgages due and owing for the next 90 days and that this would apply only to those who were current. It would also mean that at the end of the 90 days when you resume payments, you also have to pay the interest that accrues. This is not good enough. The legislature must step in and pass an ordinance under the regulations to stop all debts from accruing for a 90 day period. No interest, no late fees, no nothing. The whole system must be put on pause and not just banks but landlords and the government. For example, the licensing of company vehicles expires on 31st March 2020. At that time, if you don’t have a license, your insurance cover is no good. But you cannot license cars because the road traffic department is closed and you are not allowed on the roads for that as a result of the curfew. The government has to intervene therefore with a regulation or ordinance that deals with all of these matters officially not some patch work of compromise with these lousy banks.