In the context of the current global financial crisis, which has affected even the wealthiest of nations, it is nothing but an utter injustice that serial loan defaulters continue to walk away with impunity in our country.
It's no big secret that our banking sector has been dealing with a crisis for a long time now, but it is now facing unprecedented problems arising from the culture of bad loans that has been perpetuated by the system itself.
To that end, the High Court's recent order for a list of names of borrowers to be published on each bank or financial institution's website, while a heavy handed approach, is perhaps the only recourse left to finally put an end to the culture of bad loans once and for all.
According to the High Court, the name of the person or institution and the loan approval letter needs to be published on the website of the bank or financial institution in granting a loan. Given that bank money is essentially public money, this ultimately does make sense.
Corruption, nepotism, favouritism, and political impunity have continued to wreak havoc when it comes to borrowing, resulting in an industry that is on the brink of collapse. And unless these problem elements are nipped in the bud, our banking sector will continue to hemorrhage and put undue stress on the economy.
As heavy handed an approach as publishing a public list of names of loan borrowers might be, this would act as a good deterrent to ward off bad actors who have no intention of paying off money borrowed from banks.
A robust banking sector is the bedrock of any efficient and functional economy and it is unfortunate that we continue to protect those who are barring us from achieving that.
