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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking a moratorium on loan repayments for the families, MSMEs and small businesses impacted by the recent cyclone Michaung in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts.
The 37 lakh families living in the four districts of Tamil Nadu have borne the brunt of relentless rain, which has significantly disrupted livelihoods and damaged property, he said. “Although we have been able to restore normalcy in their daily lives, the impact on their livelihood still lingers for many. Small businessmen, traders and MSME units impacted by the floods are yet to return to their regular economic activities,” he wrote.
Many of these families and businesses have taken various loans and would find it impossible to repay them in these difficult circumstances, he stated. There is an urgent need to mitigate the burden of immediate debt servicing by relaxing repayment schedules until they recover from this crisis, he urged.
urgent intervention
“I kindly request your urgent intervention to direct all commercial banks (including regional rural banks, small finance banks and local area banks), co-operative banks, all-India financial institutions, and non-banking financial companies (including housing finance companies) to issue a moratorium for a period of three months from December 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024, on payment of all installments in respect of all term loans (including agricultural term loans, retail and crop loans) availed by families and business units in these four districts,” the letter says.
The repayment schedule and all subsequent due dates, as well as the tenor for such loans may be shifted across the board by three months, Stalin said. In the case of working capital facilities sanctioned in the form of cash credit/overdraft, the lending institutions may be permitted to allow a deferment of three months on payment of interest on such facilities outstanding as on December 1, 2023.
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“Considering the urgency of the issue, I request your personal intervention in this regard and issue immediate directions to ease the repayment burden on the affected people,” Stalin saidin the letter. .
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