I read with alarm the recent statement by Nazir Razak, CEO of CIMB Bank, that eventually there would be only six banks in this country. His call to speed up mergers of Malaysian banks at the recent 11th Malaysian Banking Summit cannot be beneficial to the public and the Malaysian economy in general.

He may have his arguments about consolidating banking services, etc, but in Malaysia the amalgamation, somewhat forced at the end of the 1997 economic crisis, is now coming home to roost at the expense of the general public.

These mergers, done in unholy haste at that time, only means that today a dreadful monopoly by a handful of banks are causing the public to be at their mercy regarding excessive banking charges for services real or cooked up by these unscrupulous institutions.

Bank Negara is literally sleeping on the job and may not have the resources to keep checking on these banks. Over and above that, the public have to put up with meager returns as these banks appear to be focusing only on properties which invariably end up on the auction pages of every major newspaper in this country.

They used to lend miserly for car loans and hire thugs to intimidate customers if you default. They now prey on teenagers at shopping complexes and have their agents push credit cards to them. The young who get caught up in this cycle of debt are getting bankrupted before they are 30. Is this what the Economic Planning Unit had in mind when they decided on these mergers?

It is sometimes amazing how blocks and blocks of condominiums with no one living in them are being constructed all end-financed by our banks. Who buys them? Who pays the rent? And how do banks get their returns? There are enough stories by businessmen who complain bitterly about banks giving loans to put up a factory but decide not to give out working capital. This is like giving you a car without wheels.

Enough of this protectionism. Please don't create another Proton or MAS situation where the public are always at the losing end. Please bring back the 40 banks. Ban Hin Lee, Kwong Yik, Abra Finance, whatever.

And do you notice something else? With lesser banks and presumably lesser competition, our economy seems to have suddenly lost its zeal what with all of them not wanting to take risks. Bank Negara must answer to the public if these institutions are being run by people capable enough to take Malaysia to greater heights. If they lack the creativity and ability, what is the Central Bank doing about it?

With inflation, does it mean that my RM10 ringgit savings in the bank is going to be worth RM5 in two years while these unscrupulous bankers run off with the innumerable fees fleeced off the public?

The short-cut way of avoiding giving out loans appears to be to ensure that prospective customers are on the records of the now discredited Ctos. We may have to learn a thing or two from China. Their banks have a high Non-Performing Loan ratio but their economy is roaring to the point of overheating year in and year out.

The situation we are in now is directly the result of shortsighted views of the EPU and Bank Negara. And this is going to cost the country dearly. If another '1997' hits us tomorrow we will be sunk by a double whammy with all our money in the bank being worthless and no discernible economy to boot.