A reader said he had applied to the Saudi Credit Bank to obtain a marriage loan. He said the bank approved the loan but fixed the date of releasing the loan four years from the wedding date. The fact that the loan application after approval will only fructify after four years makes one wonder whether taking out such a loan is worth it.
It also took me back to the years when marriage loans were marriage loans — given to fulfill one’s aspiration. All that now looks like distant memories of good times. I even wonder if many people remember that such loans still exist.
Though the bank has disbursed billions of riyals in marriage loans, it has not been able to fulfill the purpose for which it was established. It is not providing real help to the citizens about to get married as it used to do in the past when the process was easy and the disbursement timely. Nowadays the bank is not able to perform in the same way as it used to in the past despite the fact that the citizens now need more financial help than their fathers and ancestors.
Though the current generation does not have a quarter of the privileges their fathers and ancestors had, they are accused by the elders of being defeatists and escapists. They urge them to face the challenges and not to succumb to hurdles. But what will the current generation do when these difficulties are insurmountable.
Imagine when the loan does materialize, the groom might either have:
• Got married, had two children and imported a housemaid. In this case, he would need the loan to pay the first installment of the big car which he has bought to replace the smaller car which he had bought while he was a bachelor.
• Had differences with his wife and would need the loan to divorce her and get him a new wife.
• Played the stock market, if the market has improved by this time and regained its past glory, with the groom using his loan to buy more shares. In this case he will make a lot of money and will be the first citizen in modern history to repay the bank before the due date.
• Had died before the four years have passed.
The irony is that the death of the loan taker will not affect the long line of others waiting to obtain marriage loans.
