PUBLIC SECTOR LAY-OFFS are having a ripple effect as temporary Government workers are being cut off from new credit from the island’s commercial banks.
Bankers said the move was meant to protect them from rising delinquency as more people fall behind on their repayments to lending institutions.
They said that large-scale job losses posed a danger to their loan portfolios.
Republic Bank Barbados, which has a high number of public workers among its customer base, has put all lending to Government’s estimated 6 000 temporary workers on hold until the Freundel Stuart administration completes its retrenchment programme.
This was confirmed by the bank’s president and managing director Ian De Souza while the president of the Barbados Bankers’ Association, Glyne Harrison, said the move was the “only prudent” step to take at this time.
The policy change was highlighted when a temporary teacher who was previously approved for a mortgage from Republic Bank got the crushing news just days ago that her plan to purchase a new home would not be approved at this time because of her status in the Public Service.
