Opposition Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa has sought President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s intervention to ease access to bank loans for individuals who have fully settled their outstanding debts, proposing a series of reforms to the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB) through the 2027 Budget.
In a letter to Dissanayake, Rajapaksa noted that individuals who had experienced repayment difficulties in the past but subsequently settled their debts in full often face obstacles in obtaining fresh loans due to their credit histories recorded by the CRIB.
He said bank loans were essential for existing business owners seeking to expand their operations and new entrepreneurs looking to start businesses.
Although the CRIB does not blacklist individuals, historical information on repaid loans remains in its records for up to five years, affecting borrowers’ ability to obtain credit, he noted.
Pointing to Malaysia’s Central Credit Reference Information System as an alternative model, Rajapaksa said the system promptly updates a loan’s status once it has been fully repaid and primarily reflects repayment histories covering the preceding 12 months.
He has proposed five measures for inclusion in the 2027 Budget: updating CRIB records within five working days of a loan being fully repaid; clearly marking settled loans as “Fully Settled/Closed”; issuing guidelines for banks to assess applicants based on their current income and repayment capacity, in addition to past credit difficulties; reviewing the credit information retention period during 2027 in line with international best practices; and introducing a second-chance business loan scheme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that have fully settled their debts.
“A person who was previously unable to repay a loan but has since settled the debt in full should be given an opportunity to contribute to the economy again,” Rajapaksa said, adding that such measures would benefit not only business owners but also the country’s economic growth.