Portfolio Committee To Engage Banks On Smme Funding

Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition hopes to have several engagements with the banking sector to find solutions on how best to support consumers. This, after the committee indicated earlier this month that banks have been called to appear before them in order to explain their credit policies.

The chairperson of the committee, Mzwandile Masina says they want to raise concerns they have with banking policies on the first engagement.

Masina has decried the inability for small businesses to get funding from banks.

"In South Africa it is very easy to get consumption credit like to buy a car, to buy a house, to have a credit card but its very difficult to get credit for productive purposes like starting a business. So, we want to understand what the role of the bank could be in ensuring that they dont just pump us as citizens with credit, but they give us credit that is productive and that you can use. As you know in South Africa, economic growth hinges on small businesses so we need to ensure there is a way in which banks can support SMMEs.

There are a number of reports that we are looking at, the research team and ourselves. We will also produce a perspective because we dont want the banks to come and present to us. We also need to give them feedback in terms of what we have found from our own research. We dont think that this will be a once off engagement. This is a start and from there we should have other, even if its individual engagements with the banks so we can begin to say these are the issues that we are flagging. How at best can they assist, at worst if they are unwilling to assist, how can we use the law to ensure that we can work together.