The economic analyst, Ana Nives Radović, suggested to all those who, in the current situation of the emergence of the coronavirus, have not been left without a fixed income, to regulate their obligations to the banks in time, so that the period of freer spending planning will come after the repayment of the loan.
"That measure should be used by those who, in the newly created circumstances, were left without the expected income," said Radović to the Mina-business agency.
The Central Bank (CBCG), in its decision on temporary measures to mitigate the negative effects of the new coronavirus on the financial system, defined the right to a moratorium on loan repayments for up to 90 days to all loan beneficiaries, as well as to lease recipients and loan beneficiaries of microcredit financial institutions.
The moratorium on loan repayment includes the temporary suspension of all payments of obligations based on the loan, i.e. principal, interest and default interest.
Radović said that the option of suspending loan repayments for 90 days for a number of Montenegrin users may sound tempting, but it may also create additional problems for them in creating a household budget, because the economic effects of the current situation are just beginning to emerge.
She warned that the damage that will be caused to both the global and the domestic economy will be more visible only after a few months.
"The option introduced by the banks is undoubtedly suitable for all those whose personal income is completely suspended in this situation, such as carriers, restaurateurs, artisans, artists, students and all those who perform part-time jobs, without a fixed monthly compensation," Radović believes.
On the other hand, as she said, there is a large number of loan beneficiaries whose monthly incomes remain unchanged until further notice and who by postponing repayment do not achieve any benefits, but enter into the additional risk of facing the same costs when their incomes are likely to be reduced. .
Radović announced that the situation must be viewed through the potential decisions that can be made by the employer, but also through the usual behaviors in consumer psychology.
"In the first case, every employer who suffers damage will undoubtedly opt for certain savings measures, and in the majority of cases, they also include salary reductions for employees, especially when it comes to small businesses," added Radović.
In such a situation, the user of the loan, who now receives the full amount of his salary, will use the money for other expenses and thereby introduce himself to the risk that the loan installments will be due when he finds himself in a less favorable financial situation.
Radović announced that, on the other hand, self-isolation and the suspension of all social activities has a special impact on making consumer decisions, and they can often be irrational or, in the mildest sense, imply spending on what is not necessary in the phase that precedes the introduction of austerity measures. .
"Given that the amount of cash loans whose repayment term is shorter has increased from month to month in the overall structure of citizens' indebtedness, postponing their repayment does not create any positive effect." The same applies to pension loans, as well as to consumer loans with a repayment term of up to five years, whose beneficiaries are employees in the public sector," explained Radović.
She believes that the overall negative effects on small, non-diversified economies such as Montenegrin, which rely to a much greater extent on tourism revenues than other countries, will be visible only in the fall, given that no one can yet predict whether this will condition last three months or longer.
"However, it is not uncertain that the damage to the Montenegrin economy this year will be measured in hundreds of millions of euros," concluded Radović.
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