The Hindu Business Line : Moratorium: A sanatorium for angry depositors?

EVERYTHING was smooth in our lives, except for noisy scenes in Parliament and market ups and downs, with an added dose of entertainment in the form of vanishing Ministers and astonishing wills, till the GTB bombshell fell amidst us, first as tickers on the TV and then as full-scale riotous scenes, all because of one word: Moratorium.

A difficult word, actually, because there is always the confusion about where to put the a and o, but what is more difficult for deposit holders of GTB is to run their lives normally after the moratorium has been clamped for the next about three months, putting a limit on the amount that can be withdrawn from the bank.

Pronounce the word as `mor-uh-tohr-ee-uhm', linguists would advise, though depositors may shout, "Maaro-tear-`em," directing their wrath towards those responsible for the fiasco, and I'm worried that may include the auditors too.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary lists the word next to morass (a complicated situation), and defines it as "a temporary prohibition of an activity, and a legal authorisation to debtors to postpone payment." Thesaurus would give its synonyms as suspension, delay, halt, cessation, ban, embargo, freeze, standstill and stay; and antonyms are go-ahead and green light, or simply, lifting of the moratorium.

The word originates from Latin moratorius (that sounds like `notorious' but means delaying); and morari (not the Bapu who gives religious discourses, but delay).

Latin mora means pause or delay, originally `standing there thinking', according to www.etymonline.com: "The word did not come out of italics until 1914. General sense of ``a postponement, deliberate temporary suspension' is first recorded 932." So, finance problems are not new.

"Leave off delays, and let us raise the siege," is a quote from Shakespeare's King Henry VI, though that may fit as a likely slogan of the affected customers because they know money in hand is worth more than promises from the North Block. Also "delays have dangerous ends," the bard would remind us in the same work.

Oxford Dictionary of Business explains moratorium as "a period during which all the trading debts in a particular market are suspended as a result of some exceptional crisis in the market," and goes into the rationale: "In these circumstances, not to call a moratorium would probably lead to more insolvencies than the market could stand. The intention of such a moratorium is, first, that firms should be given a breathing space to find out exactly what their liabilities are and, second, that they should be given time to make the necessary financial arrangements to settle their liabilities." So, don't crowd around GTB staff, please. In times of drought, government announces moratorium to benefit farmers, so they could repay later.

Recently, Mr Pawar was asking for 10-year loans with a three-year moratorium to help cane growers. The word comes up when talking of nuke tests, death sentences, building construction and so forth.

A high-sounding word to cover up crisis because, as www.investopedia.com suggests, a company going through rough times might have a moratorium on advertising spending.

The legal authorisation is called `moratory law', invoked during political or commercial stress. "On several occasions during the Franco-German War the French government passed moratory laws. Their international validity was discussed at length, and upheld in Rouquette v. Overman, 1875," notes www.1911encyclopedia.org.

"The device was adopted in 1891 in the Argentine Republics during the money panic caused by the Baring Brothers' `difficulty,' a default of some twenty millions sterling," points out the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

For a more than mundane meaning, check http://encyclopedia.the free dictionary.com that explains the term as the period of `indulgence' or grace . In theology, "indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment" for sins committed. Wonder if anybody would be interested in offering moratorium on punishing the culpable.

From the Latin mora are other words too, explains www.takeourword.com: "Demur (to delay; also a legal term (demurrer) with similar meaning) and remora (the sucking fish which attaches itself to sharks)."

Mora is a unit of sound used in phonology. It is also a game of guessing the number of fingers extended in a quick movement of the hand, "much played by Italians of the lower classes," states www.dictionary.com. And morator is "a delayer, an advocate who talks against time," says www.bible-history.com.

The endings `ory' , `arium' and `orium' signify `a place where or for,' as in sanatorium (healing place) or auditorium (listening place).

There are more rhyming words such as emporium, crematorium, sudatorium (Roman bathhouse where the heat induces sweating), aquarium, cinerarium (a place for keeping the ashes of the dead), planetarium, rosarium and vivarium (enclosure for live animals).

Is moratorium then a figurative enclosure for all the clamouring customers?

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

More Stories on : Banking | Coming to Terms

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
A milestone accord

Bio-safety protocol and international regulation — The jurisdictional imperatives

Why do the rich not take Unctad seriously?

Recall provision — People's leash, short and tight

Moratorium: A sanatorium for angry depositors?

Behavioural science and firm transparency

`Insuring' against nature's fury

Connectivity theory

GM cotton