Buffering bill

Next year’s budget was barely approved at the National Assembly, and a series of urgent bills are piling up. It is imperative that the bills on economic reform measures be approved as soon as possible to help overcome the economic crisis. The longer we wait, the more serious the crisis will be, making people endure even more pain and agony.

The proposed changes on the regulations governing the financial industry are a classic example. The bills appear to be irrelevant to the economic crisis or people’s everyday life, but they are actually directly related to resolving the crisis.

The changes will act as a necessary buffer to help overcome the serious economic situation and the aftermath of the massive restructuring of our economy.

The aim of the proposed changes is to ease the restrictions on commercial capital for owning banks and allow a conglomerate to have bigger stakes in banks by increasing the limit from the current 4 percent to 10 percent. The change is also intended to ease the qualifications needed to invest in banks.

The bill will increase companies’ shareholding in banks and allow private equity and pension funds to invest in banks. The measure will immediately resolve the capital crunch for banks. It will also play a key role in trying to resolve the credit crunch.

Without injecting an enormous amount of public funds into the system, this measure offers a new way to get money into banks.

Only after banks have recovered will the market see a smoother flow of capital and healthy companies will not go bankrupt.

Yet some civic groups and opposition parties call the proposed changes an evil measure that only benefits the conglomerates. The change, however, is not for the conglomerates. It is a measure to use money available within the country to overcome the financial crisis. The proposed revision bill also includes a safety net to tightly restrict conglomerates’ control of the financial industry. Before opposing the change, people should closely study what they are protesting against.

Criticizing conglomerates with inflammatory propaganda concerning “conglomerates versus the middle classes” will not help the livelihoods of middle- and low-income earners. The proposed change in the financial industry is a crucial means for resolving the crisis and it must not become a target for political strife.

The governing and opposition lawmakers must see the urgency of this issue and approve the bill as soon as possible.