While appreciatingthe emergency measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India, Jammu KashmirApni Party (JKAP) president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Friday demandedinterest subvention to provide a sigh of relief to the stressed and ailingeconomic sectors of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statementissued here, Bukhari said the measures taken by the government of India mayhave provided a relief to rest of the country but these financial relaxationshave offered no respite to the struggling businesses and industrial units thatare almost defunct especially for the last one year in Jammu and Kashmir.
“While theemergency measures taken by the Union Finance Ministry are aimed at helpingborrowers cope with the economic havoc wreaked by the Covid-19 pandemic, needof the hour is to offer interest subvention in J&K to address woes of itshighly ailing economy,” he demanded.
Bukhari said thatin view of the dying economic activity due to COVID-19 Pandemic, the unionfinance ministry should announce an extended moratorium of one year on termloans and the cut of date for Jammu and Kashmir for classification of accountsshould be 31-07-2019 on all type of loan accounts, both small and largeborrowers.
“There is a direneed for an economic package to counter the economic impact of the Covid-19 andall borrowers must be covered in loan restructuring so that their accounts arenot declared as NPAs. There should be at least four quarter moratorium on alltype of loans for Jammu & Kashmir and all repayment obligations should besuspended for this period,” the JKAP president demanded further.
He said theCOVID-19 is proving a threat for almost all business units in J&K ofbecoming totally defunct. “This is why the interest subvention along withcomplete mortatorium of all repayments is much needed since businesses inJ&K have already incurred huge losses since last year and most of units arenot generating any considerable income at present,” Bukhari observed.
He said the alreadyannounced moratorium period is a first step for easing out the burden fromtraders and business community, but the union finance ministry must put in allefforts to provide interest subvention to important sectors like tourism,horticulture, agriculture, and micro, small and medium enterprise(MSME) manufacturing, amongst others, which will help to bail them out ofthe present precarious economic situation.