Delay in repaying loans in Egypt because of Corona, a phenomenon of mercy and suffering inside

A state of frustration and anger dominated the Egyptian bankers, because of what they described as the use of the Corona virus crisis to impose interest on postponing the repayment of loans, not their assistance as announced by the Central Bank.

As part of measures the government said was to make it easier for Egyptians in the face of the Corona crisis, the central bank decided last week to postpone all bank credit entitlements to institutional and individual clients (including consumer loans and real estate loans for personal housing) for a period of six months, with no additional returns or fines applied to Late payment.

According to the Central’s decision, the loan and credit card installments will be deferred automatically without the customer requesting that, but with the addition of interest for the six-month delay period.

Interestingly, the local newspapers quoted public statements about bank officials, stating that most clients wish to benefit from the initiative to postpone the installments compared to those who wish to regularize the payment, despite informing them that interest will be paid on these deferred months.

Banks say they have provided various methods for those who want to pay, such as text messages or forms through their websites or going to the branch.

But what happened on the ground was clarified by a flood of complaints by citizens who said that the banks refused to accept the installments, and some of them put many obstacles in front of those who wanted to pay in order to collect the interest.

Constitutional law professor Nour Farhat was apparently affected, so he wrote on his Facebook page that what is happening is taking advantage of the Corona virus crisis in collecting money from bank customers, not helping them, while the state supports businessmen and provides them with facilities.

Farhat added that those who want to pay off the loan installments - to escape the new interest - face hardship in this, amounting to the mercy of bank branches until they accept the payment.

Others have demanded that interest not be calculated until the delay is in the interest of customers who suffer due to the economic recession caused by the spread of the Corona virus.

Moudridoun attacked the banking procedures severely, and some described them as "monuments and exploitation" and that what is happening is not the behavior of banks and officials who appreciate the seriousness of the matter, but a "gang."

And some called on the central to intervene, stressing that it had to prevent banks from these measures and not participate in them.

Deceive doctors
Parallel to the issue of bank installments, doctors revealed that what the government announced - about a 75% increase in the medical profession allowance they were charging in implementation of a decision by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - was just another trick.

According to a doctor - who spoke to Al Jazeera Net and asked not to reveal his name - the allowance would theoretically increase by about five hundred pounds, but some taxes and stamps will be deducted from this increase, and they will be paid with the total salary to a higher segment, which means that a greater percentage of taxes will be deducted. Thus, what will actually reach the doctor’s pocket is in the range of 250 pounds, which is half of the value of the allowance that the media cheered for.

It is noteworthy that Al-Sisi submitted to the demands on the communication sites with the fairness of the doctors who lead the front lines against Corona, but he contented himself with this increase in the medical profession allowance, and ignored the old demand for an increase in the contamination allowance of 19 pounds compared to three thousand that the judge gets in exchange for an infection even though his profession is not compared to the doctor in The possibility of an infection while performing his work.