Al Suwaidi tells banks to cut rates for business - The National

Banks need to lower the cost of borrowing to help businesses struggling with high interest rates, says the Central Bank governor.

Current loan charges do not reflect the abundance of liquidity in the financial system, said Sultan al Suwaidi.

"Borrowers and especially merchants [and] businessmen are complaining about high interest rate margins on their financial budgets. Borrowers are the basis for the growth and prosperity of the banking business, therefore I would urge you to reduce interest margins on loans as much as realistically possible," he told a meeting of chief executives and other representatives of the country's banks at the Central Bank yesterday.