Alistair Darling in gok £50bn aan hulpbanken
Maandag, 21 April, 2008
Door Robert Winnett
Alistair Darling zal een ongekende regeling onthullen om £50 miljard in belastingbetaler-gesteunde leningen aan de geldschieters van de hoofdstraathypotheek vandaag aan te bieden in een poging om de kredietcrisis op te lossen.
De kanselier hoopt dat de contant geldinjectie - het grootst ooit door de Bank van Engeland - zal leiden tot goedkopere hypotheekovereenkomsten en de immobiliënmarkt zal tegenhouden verder uitglijdend.
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Onder de controversiële regeling, zal de Bank leningsgeld aan banken en hypotheekbanken in ruil daarvoor voor potentieel gewaagde hypotheekschulden. Als de immobiliënmarkt viel en de leners op hun hypotheken in gebreke bleven, zouden de belastingbetalers verzorgingsverliezen kunnen worden verlaten.
De totale grootte van de leningen zou £50 miljard moeten zijn maar de ambtenaren zeiden zij bereid waren om meer te lenen, die vrees veroorzaken dat de de belastingbetalers' blootstelling kan toenemen.
De ministers geloven de regeling is essentieel en geldschieters zal toestaan om concurrerendere overeenkomsten voor leners aan te bieden. Gordon Brown is dicht geïmpliceerdu in het opstellen van het pakket.
De leningen zijn bedoeld als maatregel die op korte termijn maximaal drie jaar duurt en de overheidsbronnen zeggen de banken „moeten waarborgen het geld“ is teruggekeerd.
De schaal van bailout alarmeerde sommige oppositieAfgevaardigden en komt enkel maanden na de nationalisering van Noordelijke Rots, die de belastingbetaler aan zo zoals veel £100 miljard in aansprakelijkheden blootstelde.
Kabel van Vince, de Liberale woordvoerder van de Schatkist van de Democraat, zei: „Het is noodzakelijk voor actie om worden genomen om de hypotheekmarkt te deblokkeren en de verlammende gevolgen van het kredietkraken te breken.
„Nochtans, kunnen wij een situatie hebben niet waar de banken hun winsten kunnen privatiseren en hun verliezen nationaliseren. Aangezien de hypotheken van de banken van inferieure kwaliteit en hoger risico dan de overheidsbanden zijn, moet de implicatie zijn dat de belastingbetalers de risico's en de verliezen van de banken steunen. Dit kan juist zijn niet.“
De conservatieven steunen in principe het voorstel maar George Osborne, de schaduwkanselier, zei: “Unblocking the financial system and getting the Bank of England to do this swap, where it is basically taking on some mortgages in return for the equivalent of cash from the bonds, is a good idea but we have got to make sure the taxpayer is protected.”
Under the plans, to be unveiled this morning, the Bank of England will swap Treasury bills for mortgage debts and other collateral from the banks. The total size of the loans will be dictated by demand.
Since the global credit crisis began last summer, banks have become wary about lending to one another and have called on the Bank of England to provide large amounts of extra money in the form of Government loans.
Previously, the Bank has agreed to lend money only in return for high-quality assets such as Government gilts. However, it has extended the collateral it will accept for the scheme to mortgages and even credit card debts.
Mr Darling will make a statement to Parliament this afternoon and will meet the country’s main mortgage lenders tomorrow, when he is expected to urge them to build on the Government’s intervention.
He will discuss the possibility of people at risk of defaulting being offered “mortgage holidays” or flexible mortgages allowing them to underpay for a few months before compensating with higher payments when conditions improve.
In an interview with the BBC yesterday, Mr Darling said the economic turmoil had created an “unprecedented shock to the system”.
“What it [the scheme] will do is effectively lend banks money to un-freeze the situation,” he said.
“We are trying to un-bung that situation so that the Bank will be making money available to the British banking system. It’s got to be repaid, and we will take securities in return for it.
“The idea is that it will open up the market and begin the process of opening up the mortgage market, which will help householders. We believe that this will be an essential step in trying to get the financial market stabilised.”
Last week, it emerged that Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain’s second biggest lender, would seek to raise up to £12 billion from its shareholders in a “rights issue”. Mr Darling indicated that he expected to see “much, much more of that”.
He said he wanted banks to “pass on the benefits of the three interest rate cuts” following criticism that the costs of mortgages had risen despite reductions in the base rate.
The loans to be unveiled today, which will have interest attached to them, will be repayable in a year, although the arrangement can be rolled over for up to three years. There will be a “haircut” between the value of the government loan and the value of the mortgages offered in return. For example, the Bank may offer £1 in taxpayer-backed loans for every 80p or 90p in mortgage debt. The gap will vary depending on the perceived quality of the mortgages being offered. Banks would have to put up greater amounts for credit card and sub-prime mortgage debt.
Research published today by the Ernst and Young Item Club, the economic forecasting group, predicts that house prices will fall by 10 per cent and the number of people moving home will fall by 40 per cent in the next two years.
Another study found that asking prices for properties fell in two-thirds of England and Wales in the past month.
The average asking price fell by just 0.1 per cent to £239,521 but this figure disguised severe price cuts in some parts of the country, according to Rightmove, the property website.
In Bedfordshire, for instance, sellers had to knock off £7,529 on average and those in Essex chopped £8,289 from their asking price.
The falls are significant as it is the first time since Rightmove started its survey six years ago that it recorded a fall in April - a month that usually heralded the start of the house-selling season.
See More:Money UK NewsHave Your Say: Alistair Darling in £50bn gamble to aid banks
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2 Responses to “Alistair Darling in £50bn gamble to aid banks”
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Neil
Posted: Apr 21st, 2008 at 7:38 am | Link to this
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Aldo
Posted: Apr 21st, 2008 at 1:50 pm | Link to this
ReplyThe time is coming where the people of the UK will have to unite and overthrow this mockery of a government… The dirty bastards are stabbing the people in the back… ITS TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!
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