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NCC to discuss bank loans, marriage costs

ABU DHABI — The Abu Dhabi National Consultative Council (NCC) will meet at Qasr Al Hosn here tomorrow to complete discussing the issue of bank loans and the linking of the issue to the spiralling activity in the money exchange market. The council will also discuss the role of surveillance over all financial activities in banks and stock markets under the openness policy the Abu Dhabi government is pursuing.

Many members of the council had pointed out in the last session to the issue of shares and acquiring rate of loans exceeding Dh300 or Dh400 million for speculation and trading on shares in the stock market. Some members had called for the presence of a committee to pinpoint the ceiling of the interest rate the banks charge in the case of granting such loans. Other members had underlined that fixing the interest rate is made on the basis of guarantees provided by the customer, and which the more they increase the less interest rate becomes, especially when the depositors move to banks which pay higher profits.

The council will also sanction the minutes of the ninth session, and listen to the report of the Municipalities and Public Amenities regarding the present situation and position of the old markets at the Al Buteen area and the vacant commercial buildings in the Al Shahama neighbourhood.

The council will also review the final report of the special committee headed by Mubarak bin Abdullah Al Mohiri on the increase in marriage expenses, which destabilises the well-knit fabric and structure of the society and the family. The report aims at creating means and ways to curb the divorce cases, encourage the man to shoulder responsibility towards his family, protect it from problems, and avoid resorting to divorce as a way to solve matrimonial problems.

• UAE