Business complains for banks

03/10/2013 00:00

Albanian businesses complain that the banking system is being rigid and not playing its role for financing the economy.

Avenir Kika says that the conditions set by banks could make loans fatal for a company.

“Businesses are not interested in usury, but in loans. By not having loans with optimal conditions, as in every other country of the world, businesses cannot go to banks but are forced to face problems with huge difficulties, with the lack of liquidity. They can’t go to banks because their loans would make a private enterprise go bankrupt in 5 or 10 years”, declared Avenir Kika, builder and member of the Chamber of Commerce leadership.

Loans for the private sector in August was 1.9% lower than one year ago. Sherif Bundo, professor of finances, says that Albania has entered in a situation that he calls parasite economy.

“Banks fund the government. The government takes loans from banks. They have found their client. Administration is not in the right level so that even if you take a loan from a bank, you can use it in the maximal way, so that we could justify banks and say that this is the best solution. It is not a good solution”, Bundo says.

Bundo thinks that this is time for banks to change profile and not remain simply a mediator for money.

“Banks should create relations with the Albanian private businesses with property interests, which means that they should cooperate in projects”, Bundo adds.

The involvement of banks in private projects resolves the financing stalemate and improves management, but Bundo says that in a national level, profits would be even bigger.

“First of all, the economic development would be better, new jobs would be created faster, and there would be investments in important and strategic sectors, which means realizing not something just for today, but there would be a clear profile for the economy of tomorrow. Involving banks would mean a new initiative for undertaking great projects”, Bundo adds.

For many years the banking system has been one of the main leaders of economic development, but their contribution has had negative figures in the past two years.

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