Bahrain defers loan payments for citizens by 6 months
COMMERCIAL NEWS
Bahrain's central bank has announced that payment of loan installments are to be delayed by six months for Bahraini nationals.
“All retails banks, finance and micro-finance firms have to grant citizens a six-month waiver without fees, interest-on-interest (compound interest) or increase in the profit or interest rate”, said Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) Governor Rashid Mohammed Al-Maraj.
The waiver is in line with the royal directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa to unify all national efforts to avert the spread of the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bahrain and protect the health and safety of citizens and residents, said Bahrain News Agency.
Pursuant to the royal directives, a BD4.3 billion stimulus package was launched to ensure state projects continue so as to achieve sustainable development whose windfall benefits citizens.
The directive applies also to credit due to credit cards, already deducted from the credit card limit as of March 19. The above-mentioned directive does not include inter-bank deposits or borrowings, it said.
Any customer, as defined above, who wishes to benefit from a delay period shorter than 6 months or who does not wish to benefit from the deferral service, must inform the lending institution he deals with accordingly, the CBB said.
This directive should also be applied as of March 2020, as the due portion should not be deducted from clients’ accounts in March, it added.
