ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER ON SATURDAY LOAN TROUBLE days 68 to go #LiveitWinit qatarhandball2015.com Live it. Win it. Qatar ‘won 2022 with maturity, transparency’ DOHA: FIFA President Joseph Blatter says “Qatar won the honour of organ- ising the 2022 with transparency and maturity and is working hard to build and equip facilities for the World Cup.” In remarks to Al Sharq, he described the accusations and criticisms against Qatar as “nothing more than smoke in the air and that the charges could not be confirmed as there was no evidence to support the allegations so far.” He said the “timing of the tournament has not yet been resolved” and praised Qatar’s efforts to build modern and advanced sport facilities. Winter arrives, rains likely, says Met DOHA: The winter has arrived, the weather bureau said yesterday, adding there are chances of scattered rains in the south and southeast within 48 hours. There were scattered rains in places like Abu Samra, Abu Nakhla, Al Shamal and in the seas on Thursday, a forecaster said. “It didn’t rain in Doha.” Ahmed Abdullah, Head, Meteorology Department, told Al Sharq that scattered cloud formations were seen in the south and southeast, indicating there could be moderate showers. Sea-goers must take precaution today as strong winds of speeds from eight to 22 knots could blow offshore, causing tumult and high waves, according to Abdullah. Continued on page 5 Hadi announces new THE ISSUE Yemen government SANA’A: Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, in a step that could help defuse a political crisis, has announced a new government led by Prime A large section of expatriates n line with Qatar’s booming economy, their credit facilities, especially in the Minister-designate Khaled Bahah, complain that their banks the number of medium companies current economic climate with regard to Design: Abraham Augusthy state TV said yesterday. has gone up. A large number of new redundancies, say experts. It read out the names of 34 minis- are getting stricter than ever Iworkers have joined the country’s In contrast, prominent Qataris warn ters, including politicians from the Shia before over personal loans burgeoning labour force. As most of young nationals against their growing Houthi group which captured Sana’a in these companies are not included in the credit craze, as banks are lending huge September and those from a wing of the and introducing stricter “approved list” of banks, credit facilities sums without properly assessing their southern separatist Herak group. vetting methods. Loan are being denied to their workers. Keeping repaying capacity. This is creating seekers are being asked away such a large section of people from problems in families. Hundreds of cases Egypt violence claims 4 participating in the economic activity of bounced cheques are coming to courts intrusive questions about does not augur well for any economy, daily, Mohammed Al Thamimi, a lawyer, CAIRO: Four people were killed and their personal life such as experts argue. says, adding about 51.1 percent of the eight wounded yesterday in incidents where they stay, who pays But bankers point to the increasing loan cases were heard by the preliminary involving Islamist protesters and mili- defaults. Some banks have suffered bigger court last year. tants, sources said. for the utilities, etc. There losses than those by others because there Family disputes over consumer loans One civilian was killed and two were are also concerns about is no insurance attached to personal loans. are one of the major reasons for break- wounded in gunfire in northeast Cairo There is a steady increase in the number ups, shows data released by the Family during clashes between protesters and some banks adopting a of expatriates ‘slipping’ out of Qatar after Consultation Centre. An estimated 30-40 residents. In Fayoum province, a 17-year- more conservative approach taking loans. International investigating percent divorces are happening due to old protester died during clashes with towards applicants belonging network teams have set guidelines for disputes over repayment of loans, Al Raya police. A soldier and a civilian were killed tracking down the offenders. Banks reports. and one person was wounded when gun- to certain nationalities. have to carefully monitor the status of See also page 2 men opened fire on an army checkpoint near the Suez Canal city of Ismailia. THE PENINSULA/QNA Saturday 8 November 2014 • 15 Muharram 1436 • Volume 19 • Number 6243 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 02 NOVEMBER 8, 2014 ON SATURDAY www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Home Banks ‘biased’ over loans • A large number of expat others because there is no insurance attached to personal loans. applicants denied loans “Expatriates can leave the country freely, so banks have to carefully monitor the status of as their companies are their personal loans, especially in the current economic climate with regard to redundancies. International investigating network agencies are not on ‘approved list’. not extending enough support to banks to track down the offenders, a banker said. • Easy loans land many If the expatriate community is crying foul over the alleged discreetness of bankers, Qataris are facing the problem of going overdrive and Qatari youth in trouble. Qatari experts warn nationals against their craze for credit. s Qatar’s much-awaited sponsor- Family disputes over consumer loans are one ship law is reportedly getting final of the major reasons for break-ups, shows data touches, its likely domino effect is released by Family Consultation Centre. An Abeing increasingly felt by expatriates. estimated 30-40 percent divorces are happen- A large section of the expatriate population ing due to disputes over repayment of persona feels that banks are adopting a conservative loans, Al Raya reported, quoting figures released approach towards their requests for personal LOAN by the centre. loans and claim lenders are rejecting applica- Experts claim personal loans to nationals by tions of even those with a clean credit record. the end of October 2013 totalled QR38.1bn, up They say some banks act arbitrarily while QR2.8bn from a year ago. dealing with the expatriate community. There The ‘no-holds-barred’ sanctioning of con- is an increasing number of stories of lenders sumer loans to nationals, especially youth, is rejecting applications of ‘eligible’ customers. creating problems in families. Most young peo- Personalloans to expatriates are limited to ple use the money to buy luxury goods or meet employees of companies ‘approved’ by banks. their wedding expenses. Banks should review Unfortunately, a large number of reputed mid- their credit polices for young Qataris, experts size companies are not on the ‘approve list’ of say, calling for interest-free special funds to many a bank, which means credit facility is meet Qataris’ wedding expenses. being arbitrarily denied to a large number of When it comes to citizens, banks are just applicants. doling out money without properly evaluating On the criteria for preparing the ‘approved their repaying capacity. This is creating huge list”, a top banker said: “We go by companies’ problems in families, said another Qatari expert. turnover, number of employees and their basic It is surprising that working Qatari youth are pay. We have a target for credit facilities every still opting for personal loans, despite the fact year and the number of companies will be that the government has more than doubled restricted to meet it. It’s true that all eligible guarantor. In such an eventuality, the guarantor for some banks while sanctioning personal loans. their salaries. People earning over QR50,000 companies are not covered by banks.” needs to transfer his/her account to the bank This is part of rebalancing the demography of a month and taking more and more personal Nijas Tharamel (name changed on request), before it sanctions the loan, said another Asian. their portfolios. loans is a debatable issue within the Qatari soci- a mid-level employee of a reputed company, “It’s very difficult to get a guarantor. Finally, I For instance, guidelines demand from us to ety, said Abu Saleh Al Marri. says: “As per Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) managed to raise funds back home at an exor- restrict over-concentration of loanees belonging According to Mohammed Rashid, another guidelines, I am legible for a personal loan of bitant interest rate,” he said. to a particular country, at a specific branch. To Qatari, before sanctioning loans to young up to QR300,000. I approached more than half “My bank dragged its feet over my applica- balance the demographic representation, there Qataris, banks must ensure family members are a dozen banks, all said my company is not on tion for over a month before rejecting it. When will be restrictions on customers belonging to aware of the credit facility being offered to him/ their ‘approved’ lists. I pursued further, it offered me 35 percent of the nationality in question for a limited time. her. The family should also be informed about “I am earning a fairly good salary. My bank the amount I had applied for,” said another cus- Local Arabic daily Al Arab recently quoted a the consequences of any default in repayment. can check my credit history. It’s so clean. Still, tomer who works with a mid-size company. top QCB official as saying that some banks take As per guidelines, Qataris can seek a loan of they rejected my application for QR200,000.” Inquiries reveal that the risk departments “precautionary” measures in terms of lending to over QR1m. If they do not invest it in a proper Lack of uniform guidelines is another prob- at certain banks adopt a rather conservative expatriates in view of reports of possible changes manner, it will weigh heavily on their future, lem faced by customers.