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Senate seeks bank relief for borrowers affected by austerity
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Posted on Mar 11 2020
The CNMI Senate has passed a resolution appealing to banks and lending institutions to provide relief to borrowers affected by austerity.
Its proponent, Sen. Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian), said that Senate Resolution 21-10 basically conveys the Senate’s sentiment for lending institutions to consider coming up with a mechanism to help alleviate the financial burdens their borrowers are facing during this time of crisis.
“It’s a respectful request to the loaning institutions, both private and government, to take heed of the current situation with the work-hour reductions and to…see what kind of reprieve they can [give] their customers,” the Senate vice president said.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres earlier asked banks to consider providing a three-month grace period for all loans, mortgages, promissory notes, and other monetary obligations owed by CNMI residents, as the Commonwealth experiences an economic downturn due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
“I do understand that they do have guidelines, but this situation is very serious. I would like to say that the others are also just as serious, but this one, it’s hard to quantify, hard to tell to what extent or how far it’s going to go,” he added.
On Tinian, all public agency employees are affected by the 16-hour work-hour cut, he said. “It’s not a very good taste for our community, especially the ones with credits, so everyone is affected.”
For the past several weeks, the CNMI has seen a massive loss in revenue following the suspension of and cancellation of flights fueled by the COVID-19 scare, which has caused a significant drop in the number of tourists on the islands.
Tourism is the sole driver of the CNMI economy, hence the drastic impact the outbreak is causing the Commonwealth.
Hofschneider expressed hope that the crisis is resolved in the next couple of months so the CNMI can bounce back. “It is our hope that the vaccine is identified so…that we can get the confidence [of] the flying public [in] flying back to the CNMI and to the region.”
