Banks, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Loan

Ainars Slesers.

As Slesers said in an interview on the LNT television this morning, he has proposed a special law that would set a three-year moratorium when no bank could evict from homes those residents who, due to the crisis, cannot make the loan payments on time, writes LETA.

In Slesers' opinion, people were tricked into taking out loans from banks by bank advertisements, but now the situation has changed and many of them cannot make loan payments anymore and many residents are facing eviction. "We must go and help them," the politician said.

Also in this law, Slesers plans to restrict banks' right to take action against entrepreneurs, especially those that produce goods for exports. In the politician's view, banks must not be allowed to unilaterally decide on increasing loan payments for businessmen, on the contrary, Slesers believes that banks should take bigger risks themselves.

"It looks like in these tough times, banks have decided to make double profit – to buy companies for a song and later sell them later to, for example, Scandinavian entrepreneurs," Slesers said.

Slesers calls the new law "a bill" to Scandinavian banks for "their irresponsible activity and handing out money" over the last few years. Now time has come for these banks to tackle economic problems together with the state.

Asked if such a state decision could result in lawsuits, Slesers only replied that, at a time of crisis, various decisions are possible: "We will pass a stringent law that the banks will have to comply with. (..) Of course, the banks will be unsatisfied, but they will have to comply with the decision. We are an independent country."

According to the politician, the banks' profit of approximately EUR 1.2 billion that they earned over the past several years should not be taken to Sweden but reinvested in Latvia. The banks should now think about developing the business activity and creating new jobs.

Slesers hopes to pass the planned law within one month. So far he has made his plans known to Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis (Latvia's First Party/Latvia's Way) and will present the idea to the coalition partners later today.