The Executive Yuan said yesterday it had reached a consensus with banks to refrain from tightening credit to enterprises to help tide them over during an economic slowdown.
Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) told a press conference that the government and the Bankers Association of the ROC (銀行公會) had agreed to push a plan to help businesses.
"Bankers tend to adopt a conservative approach in reviewing loan extensions when there's an economic downturn," but the government hoped they would not do so as "that might affect the normal operations of businesses," Chiu said.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Under the plan, banks would agree to requests by enterprises to extend payment of loan principals that are due by the end of March for another six months on condition that their operations are normal and they had not defaulted on any interest payments.
Chiu said the government wished to help as many businesses as possible given the ongoing global financial turmoil.
The proposal, effective immediately, is applicable to enterprise applicants that had taken out loans for domestic investments.
Susan Chang (張秀蓮, chairwoman of the association, said the association would urge member banks to assess the possibility of further extending loans or finding ways to help clear the debts of enterprises that are unable to pay their principal when their deadline expires.
Chiu said corporations suffering losses because of the recent scandal involving Chinese-made melamine-tainted milk powder and other raw materials are also eligible to file for loan extensions.
He added that the government had established a task force made up of the heads of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the central bank, the Council for Economic Planning and Development and the Financial Supervisory Commission to implement the plan.
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