I FAIL to understand what prevents the State from buying the loans of citizens and foiling attempts of those who trade in politics because it is obvious they take advantage of this issue to incite the citizens against the State. These politicians have used this issue for selfish interests particularly during election time. They play on the sentiments and toy with the needs of the citizens to attain false glories.

Why can’t the State protect itself and turn the tables on the heads of the people who play dirty politics and rescue the citizens from political blackmail?

The issue of bank loans is not new. It has been making waves for a few decades and the problems have accumulated over the years without a ray of hope or promise to solve it.
How can a small state, whose population does not exceed 1.2 million people, ‘boast’ of 300,000 people who have borrowed loans from banks? To add insult to injury the local courts have issued verdicts against 50,000 such people because they have failed to pay and now they are sought by justice.

One of the main reasons for crisis in the Kuwaiti families which has ended in social problems is the direct result of loans. Do we not know of families which have ‘perished’ due to this unsolved ‘mystery’?

Frankly speaking these loans are very old and some of them were taken before the invasion of the country by Iraq. With regret, I say the banks have contributed to the worsening problem by offering ‘easy’ facilities to the borrowers — especially those who have relatives or friends working in the banks or are close to the managers.
Surprisingly, the so-called Risk Chamber in the Central Bank was either unaware of what was going on or being circumvented and allowed the citizen to be victimized because he/she was unable to pay the accumulated interest on the loans until the interests snowballed into an amount larger than the principal amount.

All this time the state stood by as a spectator and did nothing to alleviate the sufferings of the citizens until the issue became hot material for exploitation by candidates contesting the National Assembly elections.
It is true the responsibility for this error is borne by the three parties — the citizen, the banks and the State. The latter may have to bear a bigger share of the burden because when it discovered the error, it neither took an initiative to offer a solution nor prevented more and more people from sliding into the abyss of the financial deficit.

To the contrary the State abandoned the borrowers at the mercy of the people who trade in politics during election time. Taking advantage of the situation, the traders competed among themselves to deceive the people claiming they have a magic solution to their problem.
Everybody knew this magic solution was a false promise to write off loans, yet many fell victim to this ploy and voted for these people. A majority of those who now gather at the Erada Square and shout slogans scripted by the traders are those who are unable to settle their loans.

The State would have lost nothing if it had opened its heart to the citizens and purchased their loans or benefits and agreed with the banks on the reduction of either the original debt or the benefits. In this way the State would become the creditor and prevent the accumulation of interest on the loans.
The Central Bank of Kuwait must adopt strict measures when granting loans, particularly taking into account the financial standing of the citizen to ensure he/she has the capacity to repay.
If the State had followed this path, the citizens would be able to breathe a sigh of relief and not repeat the bitter experience again. To the contrary they would accept to pay their debts to the State under easy terms and conditions.

Once again I fail to understand what prevents the government from establishing a fund to purchase these debts while it has one thousand options at its disposal.
If the government had provided a solution to the debt crisis, we would not hear of bad debts. Rather the government preferred to go by the Arabic saying ‘Neither the wolf dies nor the sheep perishes’.
Not only will the government be able to collect the money with ease, it would also pre-empt attempts by the politicians who trade in slogans from having an upper hand in political decision of the State.