The Official Credit Institute (ICO) analyzes whether the 90 financial entities that participate in the public guarantee program that the Government has launched are carrying out an increase in interest rates to their clients, as reported by associations of self-employed workers.
Its president, José Carlos García de Quevedo , explained during a virtual seminar organized by the General College of Economists that the organization is "monitoring" to ensure that the cost of financing "is in line with that existing before Covid and it is consistent with the type of guarantee, taking into account the situation in the financial markets. " In other words, check that there has been no increase in credit taking advantage of the increased demand during these weeks due to the paralysis of economic activity and the suffocation of companies.
After carrying out a first study taking a sample among the thousands of operations that have been remitted by banks in recent weeks, the ICO concludes that "so far the levels we are observing are within reason."
García de Quevedo has also admitted that the "most active" entities in the granting of guaranteed credit have already exhausted the two tranches of guarantees granted by the ICO, which could lead to delays in delivering the money to its clients. In this sense, it has reiterated that the power to release new guarantees - as the banks demand - corresponds to the Council of Ministers.
"There may be errors and it may happen that some entity does not have more assigned quota but continues to market credits with guarantees waiting for more quotas to be granted. This must be explained to the client because it will take longer in this regard," explained the president of the ICO.
Lastly, the senior administration official has also asked entities to grant financing beyond the ICO program and has warned that the body will monitor, together with the Bank of Spain and the Tax Agency, that the plan does not involve rinsing the old debt of some clients to reduce risks and interest rates.
"This is not intended for one to regularize past activities, but restricted to new financing. We would be misrepresenting the plan," he concluded.
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