Political obsession weakening financial sector

Bill 234, presented last January, aims to change the rules of credit in financial institutions in Panama. It would set a cap on credit card interest; it would weaken the role of the credit history and would force to consolidate the debts of clients that request it. The meaning of this project would attack important controls that protect the health of the country’s financial system and would cause banks to restrict the credit that so many Panamanians will need to get out of the crisis. There are tools, perhaps imperfect or incomplete, that deserve to be strengthened to better manage debts. The most powerful of all is called savings, and this lacks the incentives and rewards that a country like ours should grant to savers. But, faced with the new reality, It would be good to find consensual solutions that mitigate the effects that the crisis will have on credit institutions and their clients. Why has the National Assembly become obsessed with weakening the financial sector? Approving this project means delaying the light even further at the end of the tunnel, of the current crisis. – LA PRENSA,Apr 25