Rinkevics expects banks to be more cooperative on mortgage payments

RIGA - President Edgars Rinkevics expects commercial banks to be more cooperative when it comes to the issue of steeply increased mortgage rates. 

After a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) on Wednesday, the president said that his conversation with her focused on the drafting of the 2024 budget, electricity tariffs, as well as banking business. 

The president believes that the banking sector should realize its responsibility and come up with its own proposals on how to deal with the increased mortgage payments, which one bank has already done. Neither Rinkevics or Silina revealed the name of that bank. 

"I would like other banks to be more cooperative as well, otherwise what is currently being discussed in the Saeima, public and government will be largely the result of the unresponsiveness of the banking sector itself, and then there is not much to complain about," the president said. 

On Wednesday, Rinkevics had his first meeting with the new Prime Minister Silina. 

As reported, the prime minister has met with bank representatives and called on the banks to come up with their proposals, and one bank has already offered to lower its interest rates by one percentage point. Silina did not name the bank which made the offer but urged other banks to also offer realistic solutions. 

Silina believes that government support to compensate for the steep mortgage increases should be provided to all households. The prime minister noted that mortgage payments for individuals have increased disproportionately and that there is no real basis for assessing and ranking households by income level in an attempt to only support the low-income households.