Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday his government will go ahead with its mortgage relief plan despite harsh criticisms from international credit rating agency Moody’s.
Christie said while he took note of Moody’s concerns he was satisfied that the PLP proposal is a sound one that will not put the country’s economic recovery at risk.
“We’ve always indicated that our plan was well thought out, well considered, that we had consulted some bankers in The Bahamas on it and other experts and that in any event in moving forward as a government once we have an opportunity as we now have to serve as a government everything will be done on strict consultation and to serve the best interests of the Bahamian people,” he told The Nassau Guardian after a church service at Zion Yamacraw Church to celebrate his party’s election win.
“So I noted what Moody’s had to say. Obviously, I would have loved the opportunity to have been confronted with that and an opportunity to speak to them about it – we will.
“But again as a government we’re moving forward and we’re moving forward with the program we were elected upon.”
Last week, the ratings agency warned that the PLP’s plan could derail the country’s economic recovery and cost taxpayers up to $250 million over the course of five years. Moody’s also predicted that the PLP’s plan would create “an element of moral hazard” into the finance and housing sector by increasing mortgage delinquencies.
The PLP’s plan calls for banks and other financial institutions to agree to a 120-day moratorium on foreclosures and to write off unpaid interest and fees on mortgages facing foreclosure. The PLP also pledged to guarantee the interest payments of the affected borrowers for five years until 2017.
The PLP has also promised legislation to protect homeowners who have already paid more than a certain percentage of their mortgage.
