CM Stalin urges Nirmala Sitharaman to give 3-month moratorium on loan repayments
CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to provide a three-month moratorium on loan repayments to families affected by Cyclone Michaung in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. Stalin wrote a letter to Sitharaman in this regard and also tagged her to a post on X platform.
In the letter, Stalin said small businessmen, traders and MSMEs affected by the floods are yet to return to their regular economic activities. There is an urgent need to mitigate their burden by relaxing loan repayment schedules till they come out of the crisis. “The 37 lakh families living in the four districts have borne the brunt of relentless rain which has caused significant disruption in their livelihood and damage to their properties. Although we have been able to restore normalcy in their daily lives, the impact on their livelihood still lingers,” Stalin said.
Several families and business entities in the four districts have availed themselves of loans for various purposes and would be finding it impossible to repay during such difficult circumstances. Stalin requested Sitharaman to direct all commercial banks (including regional rural banks, small finance banks, and local area banks), cooperative banks, all-India financial institutions, and non-banking financial companies (including housing finance companies) to issue a moratorium from December 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024 on payment of all installments in respect of all term loans (including agricultural term loans, retail and crop loans) availed of by families and business units in these four districts.
The chief minister also suggested that repayment schedule and all subsequent due dates, as well as the tenor for such loans may be shifted across the board by three months. For working capital facilities sanctioned in the form of cash credit/overdraft, the lending institutions may be permitted to allow a deferment of three months on payment of interest on all such facilities outstanding as of December 1, 2023.