Representatives of the business community in the war-torn Tigray Regional State plead for a write-off to interest on loans amounting to 31 billion Br borrowed by several businesses. Members from the Tigray Chamber of Commerce convened in the capital with officials from the ministries of Finance and the National Bank of Ethiopia to find a remedy to the 5.1 billion Br interest being accrued every year. The discussion was organised by the Ministry of Peace and Center for International Private Enterprise at the Hyatt Regency Hotel last week. The report revealed that 422 varieties of businesses had seen their earning completely vanish due to the conflict. The Chamber had dispatched a letter to the central bank four months ago requesting interest waivers on the loans obtained from eighteen banks and two microfinance institutions. Assefa G. Selassie, head of the Chamber, insisted that most companies are incapable of paying back any loans, with their repayment capacity further damaged by the galloping inflation rates. Atakilti Kiros highlighted businesses struggling to make interest payments and stressed that depositors were receiving minimal interest gains on their 71 billion Br savings while borrowers were being subjected to hefty obligations. He insisted that hotels, lodges, restaurants and catering services that had their business vaporized during the two-year war could not pay back the loans due to business slowdown. The Minister of Peace, Taye Denda, acknowledged the devastating impact of the war in the region, stating: "We wreaked havoc with our financial resources." Frezer Ayalew, head of banking supervision at the central bank revealed that the 560 branches of financial institutions had several of their requirements relaxed to help in the rehabilitation process. He indicated that waiving off interest payments would require a thorough assessment to figure out how the debts would be absorbed.
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