Banks stepping up to ease pain of lockdown

South African banks have done much over the past months to support their customers and the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown.

The view that banks have not done enough to help the country get through the social and economic devastation caused by the pandemic is wrong. Since the outbreak in SA, banks have quickly changed their approach to business to support customers in good standing who were affected.

Banks provided large numbers of their customers with three-month payment breaks to help them at a time when many were left without — or a reduced — income. Eighty-four percent of individuals and 95% of commercial, small and medium enterprises who requested help from their banks were assisted.

This was not business as usual and amounted to an extraordinary effort conducted under lockdown with many bank staff working from home. Now that the initial period of cash flow assistance is over, banks are negotiating further financial relief with customers who may require this, on an individual basis.

Separately, banks also restructured facilities for corporate and investment banking clients, which became necessary as adverse business conditions reduced the ability of many large businesses to meet their obligations timeously.

Cash flow relief for eligible individuals and businesses was critical to the preservation of quality of life, jobs, businesses and a functioning economy. These payment breaks are not debt write-offs, and interest and fees on credit agreements will continue to accumulate, despite any necessary adjustment in terms.

This is because banks still have an obligation to pay interest to those customers who have entrusted them with earning a return on their deposits. Banks must also recover operating costs to remain sustainable and sound businesses. It is a fine balance, but our country could not afford a banking crisis on top of its challenges.

Banks have extended R15.1bn in loans to small businesses under the Covid-19 loan guarantee scheme. The scheme is a partnership between the Reserve Bank, Treasury and commercial banks, which offers loans to support qualifying enterprises until economic activity can resume. It is a risk-sharing arrangement encouraging banks to lend more than they otherwise would, but not so much more as to put either the banks or taxpayers’ funds at undue risk.

Based on initial estimates of customers’ needs, banks contractually agreed to facilitate loans of up to R67bn under the scheme. Even if banks had approved all 43,759 existing applications for loans — at the average approved loan size of R1.25m — total demand from the scheme would be about R54.5bn. Based on present trends, banks expect to extend between R24.41bn and R43.74bn in Covid-19 loans to enterprises by January 2021.

The Covid-19 loan guarantee scheme does not provide grants. In terms of the criteria by the Bank and Treasury, participating commercial banks have to be reasonably sure applicants will repay the loans. Given the state of the country’s finances, SA does not have the money for taxpayers to absorb up to R200bn in lost loans. And, as banks first have to use their shareholders’ funds — not taxpayers’ money — to absorb the first 6% of any losses, they have an additional responsibility to make sure funds can be recovered.

Since August 1, the conditions of the scheme have been relaxed, to make it easier for small businesses to qualify for a loan.

However, because of the criteria for the scheme and the need to balance protecting taxpayers with sustainable banking practices, banks are not able to assist everyone who applied. Those businesses that feel their Covid-19 loan guarantee scheme application was unfairly rejected can lodge a complaint to the ombudsman for banking services.

Despite immense social and political pressure to provide funds without appropriate checks and balances, banks have acted in the best interest of customers, shareholders, taxpayers and the country’s financial system, and will continue to do so. Banks hold in trust the salaries and savings of SA workers, professionals and companies. It is their deposits that banks use to extend credit for investment in economically productive infrastructure, job creation and inclusive economic growth. If the financial system is harmed, SA is unlikely to be able to recover from the social and economic devastation of the pandemic.

Banks are already under pressure because of SA’s economic crisis and sovereign credit rating downgrades that predate the Covid-19 pandemic. Banks have made significant provisions for future credit losses and face difficult economic conditions. Bank earnings for the first half of 2020 were down 70-80%, credit losses are higher than during the global financial crisis and bank share prices are down by 40-50%.

Banks endorse the national economic recovery plan adopted under the aegis of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) and are committed to playing their part in supporting it in a responsible and sustainable way. But irresponsible credit provision cannot be a substitute for growth-enhancing economic reform.

Likewise, we should not be surprised that bank credit extension will be low in an environment of poor consumer and business confidence, policy uncertainty and low growth, and an unreliable electricity supply.

The Bank predicts the economy will contract 8.2% in 2020. This underlines the desperate need for structural economic reform, sustainable fiscal management and bold political leadership to create opportunities for entrepreneurs, companies and banks.

Bongiwe Kunene is MD of the Banking Association SA.