THE ailing CNMI economy has not yet seen the worse, as the pending closure of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. and the scandal involving Bank of Saipan are also expected to negatively affect the banking industry and the rest of the local business community.
Yesterday, the CNMI Bankers Association met with Department of Commerce officials to express concern regarding Bank of Saipan checks they received since the government issued a freeze order on the bank’s assets.
Juan Lizama, secretary of the CNMI Bankers Association, said the clearing of checks is their most pressing concern.
“There are concerns about the checks accepted on Monday and Tuesday. We also want to know whether Bank of Saipan is still going to open,” said Lizama, who is also the general manager of First Hawaiian Bank’s Gualo Rai branch.
Lizama said as of yesterday, First Hawaiian Bank was still accepting Bank of Saipan checks.
“I cannot speak for the other banks,” he added.
The Variety repeatedly tried but failed to reach other bank officials for comment.
Efrain F. Camacho, president of EFC Engineers & Architects and former president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, yesterday said if a big corporation like HSBC is still reeling from the economic crunch, “how much more with smaller banks and businesses?”
“This tells us that the economy has not yet reached the bottom. I’m as surprised as anybody else about the news of HSBC’s closure,” said Camacho.
The lack of business and investor confidence in the CNMI government may have resulted in the closure of HSBC’s branch, he said.
“The government still lacks a concrete economic recovery plan. The government doesn’t even have a working economist to help us plan and assess the economy,” Camacho said.
