The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) is advocating for the temporary suspension in the payment of loans and mortgages following the potential impact of the Coronavirus in Ghana.
A statement from the CPA and directed to President Nana Akufo-Addo suggested that such payments should be put on hold until such a time that the pandemic has totally been dealt with.
CPA argues that, the continuous payment of such credit facilities will bring untold hardship on many and also have dire implications on the country’s economic situation.
“We are therefore appealing to your high office to intervene and suspend payments on loans and mortgages until life returns to normalcy in the economy. Ghanaians are appealing for more monetary policies and directives to aid its economy through this period of extremely uncomfortable confinements due to public health and with the aim of containing the pandemic from causing havoc like how it has devastated other countries”, the statement said.
Find below, the full statement:
“Lives and businesses around the world have suffered massively since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by World Health Organization few weeks ago. Its global stretch has come to affect local businesses and the Ghanaian economy as a whole. In this regard, The Consumer Protection Agency would like to propose to the bank of Ghana to suspend all loan and mortgage payments for a certain period of time till the deadly COVID-19 VIRUS pandemic, that is threatening global economies has been permanently eradicated.
It would be recalled that all major economies have announced various stimulus packages for their diverse sectors within this pandemic period to augment the plight of their citizenry. Mobile money transaction and payments below Gh₵100 has been made free for easy payments, a directive that has been beneficial to small businesses and households.
However, Ghanaians are appealing for more monetary policies and directives to aid its economy through this period of extremely uncomfortable confinements due to public health and with the aim of containing the pandemic from causing havoc like how it has devastated other countries.
We are therefore appealing to your high office to intervene and suspend payments on loans and mortgages until life returns to normalcy in the economy.”
Impact of COVID-19 on businesses
The impact of the novel Coronavirus on economic activity is huge as many sectors of the economy have been shut down in support of social distancing measures to curb the spread. The current spread has also complicated supply chains, and the drop in equity prices.
Large-scale quarantines and travel restrictions, drive a sharp fall in consumer and business spending.
Although the outbreak comes under control in most parts of the world, like China, the source of the disease, the self-reinforcing dynamics of a recession is obvious. Consumers stay home, businesses lose revenue and lay off workers, and unemployment levels have risen sharply.
The Bank of Ghana has also introduced a number of incentives to help banks and other specialized deposit taking institutions to withstand a possible impact of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.