Bangladesh Bank further relaxes loan repayment to financial institutions
Bangladesh Bank has brought another relaxation in repayment of loans by allowing the borrowers to make their due payments to financial institutions in more installments considering the COVID-19 effects, reports UNB.
A Bangladesh Bank circular, issued by Department of Financial Institutions and Markets (DFIM), said the financial institutions can rearrange the numbers of installments for the short and long term borrowers who are unable to pay the due installments between 1 January and 31 December against their loans, lease and advances.
The financial institutions can reset both the number and amount of installments considering them as “deferred” payments. The number of installments could be increased in the same ratio as those are due from December to January 2020, said the BB circular .
The existing policy in this regard will remain unchanged and the financial institutions will refrain from imposing any extra fee, charges or penalty on borrowers in calculating their interest or profits, the circular said.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Bank on 29 September in a circular had extended its relaxed conditions for loan repayment till 31 December taking into consideration the impacts of coronavirus on the country’s trade and business.
As per that circular, classification of loan will not be changed between 1 January and 31 December this year even if anyone fails to pay back the loan as per the schedule.
It is assumed that many loan recipients may not be able to repay their loans as per the schedule, said the central bank said while issuing the previous circular.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bank in another circular extended the timeframe by one month until November 30 to achieve the loan distribution targets for banks under the economic stimulus package declared by the Prime Minister for the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprise (CMSME) to offset the effects of COVID-19.
The circular, issued by SME and Special Programmes Department, said that it was found in the analysis of information that some banks and financial institutions have failed to achieve the targets of implementing the prime minister’s announced Tk 200 billion loan package by the deadline of 31 October.
The deadline of the loan distribution has been further extended until 30 November from 31 October to properly implement the stimulus package for the CMSME by banks and financial institutions, said he BB circular.