The Tribune

THERE have been no major changes in the delinquency rate of mortgages in the Bahamas over the past few months, Fidelity Bank CEO Anwer Sunderji said yesterday.

Referring to a quarterly report from the Central Bank of the Bahamas, Mr

Sunderji said since February the delinquency rate on mortgages has been "fairly the same."

Since the PLP announced the mortgage relief programme on the campaign trail it has been speculated that many home owners would intentionally stop paying their mortgages in an effort to be bailed out by the government.

The mortgage relief plan seeks to strike an agreement with banks and institutional lenders to write off unpaid interest and fees for homeowners facing foreclosure in return for government guaranteed interest payments for five years, 2017. The proposal also includes working with banks and lenders to implement a 120-day moratorium on foreclosures and extend the loan repayment period under defaulting mortgages.

While refusing to comment on the plan directly Mr Sunderji said it would be "danger" for anyone to stop paying mortgages intentionally.

He said: "If someone thinks they will benefit from the programme by not paying it does not work that way. However, no such programme has been officially announced, but it will not benefit people who just stop paying."

According to the Central Bank report delinquent mortgages or mortgages that are 90 days past due were $459 million in March, $459 million in April and $455 million in February.

The May statistics have not yet been released.

Mr Sunderji said these figures show that there have been little marginal changes and there has been no further deterioration in the delinquency rate of mortgages. In fact he said its become "stable."

Last month, leading Wall Street credit agency Moody's released a scathing review of the mortgage relief program.

The firm said the Christie administration's plan undermined efforts to rein in the $4.356 billion national debt, and warned that the scheme will likely cost Bahamian taxpayers $250 million to implement.

However, Prime Minister Perry Christie said "as a government we're moving forward and we're moving forward with the programme that we were elected upon".