Loan repayment moratorium for NBFIs extended till 31 Dec

The Bangladesh Bank has extended the ongoing moratorium on the repayment of loan instalments for non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) till 31 December this year.

These borrowers will get four more months to repay the instalments of all types of loans, reads a circular issued by the central bank's Department of Financial Institutions and Markets on Wednesday.

It further adds that such loans will not be considered classified if borrowers repay 50% of their instalments within 31 December 2021. In such a case, loan recipients have to repay the remaining loan instalments within the next one year.

Providing more details, central bank officials said the second wave of Covid-19 has severely affected the country's trade and commerce, and the Bangladesh Bank has extended the deadline for repaying the loans in response to a request from businesses.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the regulator had suspended loan classifications multiple times, saving clients from being defaulters. This year the facility has been given on the basis of the NBFI-client relationship.

Despite providing such facilities to loan recipients on multiple occasions, the amount of defaulted loans has yet to decrease, insiders have said.

Previously, the central bank had extended the moratorium for banks on repayment of loan instalments to 31 December this year. Such loans would not be considered as classified if borrowers manage to repay 25 % of their instalments within this period.