Concessions for affected borrowers
With the outbreak of the pandemic, the Central Bank introduced several concessionary schemes since March 2020 to assist affected borrowers.
The last phase of the moratorium granted to Covid-19 affected borrowers ended on December 31, last year, while the last phase of the moratorium granted to the tourism sector ended on June 30, this year.
In the meantime, CBSL has called on licensed banks to set up post Covid-19 revival units to identify and assist under-performing and non-performing borrowers affected by the pandemic for the purpose of reviving viable businesses with the potential of contributing to the national economic growth, thus facilitating the unwinding of moratorium in a sustainable manner.
Considering the current macroeconomic challenges and the requests made by several stakeholders including Government Institutions, CBSL has requested the licensed banks to provide appropriate concessions, for six months, to borrowers whose income or businesses have been adversely affected due to the current macroeconomic and or due to Covid-19 pandemic while preventing any undue stress on the banking sector stability.
Global electricity demand drops - Report
In its latest Electricity Market Report, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) says that global demand for electricity is already slowing sharply thanks to slowing economic growth and high energy prices.
“Electricity demand growth is slowing significantly in 2022. After global electricity demand grew by a strong 6% in 2021, propelled by rapid economic recovery as COVID-19 lockdowns eased, we expect growth to slow to 2.4% in 2022--about the same as the average from 2015 to 2019,” according to the report. - OilPrice.com
Unsafe products exact high price on consumers globally
Rogue traders whose unsafe products have been withdrawn from one market can export them to countries with weaker consumer product safety, disregarding consumers’ right to safe products.
Billions of people face the greatest cost-of-living crisis in a generation due to rising food and energy prices amid tighter financial conditions. Vulnerable consumers are in a dire situation.
UNCTAD’s analysis shows that a 10% increase in food prices will trigger a 5% decrease in the incomes of the poorest families, equivalent to their health expenditure.
-UNCTAD