Economist Dr Ralph Henry is calling for careful review of proposed revised credit union legislation before it is introduced."I hope they will not introduce the legislation that they have proposed, at least not without another look at it to see what impact it will have on the movement," Dr Henry, chairman, Kairi Consultants Limited, said.
He was speaking after a ceremony to launch Rhand Credit Union's new products, Max 100 Credit Plan and Max Auto at the credit union's headquarters, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain.Dr Henry said new regulation is about regulating the credit union sector and "putting it under manners"."It is not really encouraging it to grow, so you are going to stall it's growth. It can lead to the decline of credit unions," he warned.
Dr Henry said while he recognises the need to prevent another Hindu Credit Union from occurring, the proposed legislation must create a space for the growth of the sector."What we are doing is we are depending on a traditional elite to determine the growth of business in the country. We are stalling the development of the country when there are the resources to create a whole range of activities," he said.
"If you look at the reserves that the credit unions must have, we are requiring our institutions to have much more money tied up." Overall, Dr Henry advised against "blindly adopting" new legislation in T&T's financial sector since there could be repercussions."I am arguing that we have to be more sensitive to our own requirements. If you look at the new structures they want to suggest for us for the operations of our institutions that will destroy the credit union movement," he said.