Several hundred individuals and commercial customers are grateful to the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla (NCBA) for extending a loan moratorium to them for the past 18 months, dating back to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. That provision, where customers also received we well-needed and related advice from the Bank, is however coming to an end on Thursday, September 30, 2021.
NCBA’s CEO, Ms. Sharmaine Francois, accompanied by senior staff member, Mrs. Shellice Niles, conducted an online seminar on the matter on Thursday, September 17, to further explain the loan moratorium facility. They were interviewed by Radio Anguilla’s Acting Chief Information Officer, Ms. Felicia Hennis.
Among other things, the moratorium was put in place to assist customers of the Bank. They comprised unemployed and underemployed individuals impacted by the pandemic in terms of loss of income and owing loans to the Bank, and commercial businesses – experiencing declining cash flows and also having loans, to stay afloat. The offerings by the Bank also included deferment of loans, opportunities to assist other family members; reduced debt payments and extensions as well as other assistance in the form of overdrafts for commercial businesses.
In explaining the moratorium, Ms. Francois said in part: “NCBA put out a programme to see how best we could assist customers during the pandemic period.” She also spoke about the contraction of the global economy; how it affected international countries, the region, including the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union and member territories such as Anguilla.
“Based on that economic contraction, particularly in 2020, we had to move fast, as the people’s Bank in Anguilla, to see how best we could support our customers during these difficult times,” she observed. “So far, what we saw, with many of our customers, both individuals and businesses, was that with the impact of COVID on incomes and cash flows, it was necessary that we offered the moratorium.”
Ms. Francois disclosed that figures from the Labour Department, a few months ago, had indicated that as high as 37 percent of the labour market was either affected by unemployment or underemployment and had represented around 2,500 employees.
She added that it was necessary for the Bank to offer the loan deferral or moratorium programme to ensure that persons were helped along the way. She added: “If you are not working, you are not able to pay and so the deferral programme was to help you.”
Notwithstanding the soon-coming end of the Loan Moratorium, NCBA will still be available to offer advice and other forms of assistance to both individuals and commercial businesses needing help.
NCBA is an amalgamation of the island’s former two indigenous Banks – the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla and the Caribbean Commercial Bank. Both were taken over by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in August, 2013. Later, NCBA became a Bridge Bank under the aegis of the Government of Anguilla.
It is reported to have done extremely well in terms of share capital and financial growth, with much liquidity and lending capacity. Earlier this year NCBA became a fully Commercial Bank, owned for the time being by the Government and people of Anguilla.
