Retail traders have urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to convene the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) urgently.
Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samathi (KVVES) State president Joby V. Chunkath said here on Monday that most retailers in the State had turned debtors due to the COVID-19 lockdown and consequent loss of business. Commercial banks now reckon retailers as defaulters with a dismal credit rating. They have turned their loan accounts into non-performing assets.
Retailers seek financial assistance to put their pandemic-cratered businesses back on track. However, the banks consider extending loans to the retailers risky. The retailers are at their wit’s end. They urge the government to negotiate with banks on their behalf. The KVVES requested the government to convince the banks not to declare their loan accounts as non-performing assets.
It urged the government to convince the banks to restructure their loans and to distribute the loans promised in the State’s ₹20,000- crore COVID-19 relief package announced in the previous Budget. It also requested the government to consider only localities with an average test positivity rate above 30% as critical spread warranting lockdown.
The KVVES told the government to allow home appliances, studios, vehicle showrooms, furniture shops and tyre and alignment shops to open for business at least on alternate days. It pointed out that the pandemic had devastated the catering industry. The government should allow marriage halls to operate with less than 50% of the permitted capacity.
