Africa-Press – South-Africa. South Africa will press ahead with changes to its credit laws to make lending to smaller firms easier, heeding a call by the top banking lobby group that had criticized the government’s withdrawal of the plans.
Earlier this month, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau withdrew the draft amendments to the National Credit Act, scuppering changes that banks had sought to make it easier for them to grant more loans to small businesses.
The Banking Association of South Africa wrote to the minister, saying the withdrawal botched the policy-making process and saw the minister cave in to political pressure, derailing efforts to close a R350 billion funding gap for small- and medium-sized businesses in the country.
In response, Tau said he “acknowledges the damage that was done and that he has instructed his officials to work at reintroducing these amendments,” Business Unity South Africa CEO Khulekhani Mathe said in an online briefing Thursday. The banking association is a member of BUSA.
The minister is in the US — where he recently held talks with top trade officials — but will meet with the business lobby groups on his return to “go through what happened and how we can avoid that repeating,” Mathe said.
“He did send an official to meet with us and just reassure that he understands the damage that was done and is working to have the amendments reintroduced,” Mathe said.
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