Don’t be selective with emergency powers, Guan Eng tells govt

 

Lim Guan Eng tells Tengku Zafrul Aziz that the dispute with banks can be easily resolved by the exercise of emergency powers to amend various laws during the Covid-19 crisis period.

PETALING JAYA: The government must not be selective in exercising its emergency powers, former finance minister Lim Guan Eng said after his successor claimed he could not dictate to banks what moratoriums they can provide or how they are to be implemented.

“Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin must not be selective in using emergency powers only when it is politically expedient to do so, such as appropriating RM5 billion from the National Trust Fund (KWAN) to purchase vaccines and finance immunisation-related costs, by amending KWAN Act without parliamentary approval.”

However, Muhyiddin refused to do the same to amend the various laws to compel the banking industry to extend the loan moratoriums automatically for all, he said in a statement today.

The Bagan MP went on to say that even without the Emergency Ordinance, there were other legal avenues to compel banks to implement a blanket loan moratorium, notably the Financial Services Act 2013.

“While we disagree with (finance minister) Tengku Zafrul Aziz and can point out various legislation where such powers are ultimately vested with the government to compel banks to comply, this dispute can be easily resolved by the exercise of emergency powers to amend various laws during the Covid-19 crisis period.

“Lawyers have suggested amending the Financial Services Act 2013, similar to KWAN Act, or bringing back the Covid-19 Temporary Measures Act to cover the banking industry that prohibits penalties for failure to perform contractual obligations.”

Lim added that moratoriums should not only be given based on income levels.

He said the bank loan moratoriums should not be only offered to those who have lost their jobs or businesses under the MCO.

“Those who suffered loss of employment income or business revenue under this MCO should also benefit. Denying the M40 (middle-income group) the same offer is not being sympathetic to their current financial plight, which may cause them to slip down to the B40 (low-income) group.” - FMT