The Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a circular for the non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) on Sunday, relaxing loan repayment facility for their borrowers, especially the Covid-affected businesses.
The new loan-rescheduling policy will allow the defaulters to repay their term loans for a period of six years for the first time, five years for the second time, and another five years for the third time.
Even the defaulters might get the rescheduling facility for the fourth time following special consideration.
For the first time rescheduling, the minimum down payment will be 4.0 per cent of the total arrears or 7.0 per cent of the default instalments, whichever amount will be the lowest.
For the second time, the minimum down payment will be 5.0 per cent of the total arrears or 8.0 per cent of the default instalments.
For the third time, the down payment will be 6.0 per cent of the total arrears or 9.0 per cent of the default instalments.
Earlier, the defaulters were able to regularise their loans by paying 10 per cent to 30 per cent of the unpaid amount as down payment.
The BB in its latest circular also included some conditions to avail of the facility, which stated that the loan rescheduling or restructuring would be given six months grace period.
The borrowers, who rescheduled non-performing loans (NPLs), would become defaulters following their failure to repay after availing the rescheduling facility for the fourth time.
In a notice, the BB said the cash flow for small, medium and large borrowers and firms has been affected because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
In some cases, loans cannot be rescheduled or restructured under the existing guideline. The new guideline has been issued to help the NBFIs manage their classified loans properly and make loan repayments easy for the affected borrowers, it added.
The new rescheduling or restructuring guideline for the NBFIs came nearly two months after the BB offered an almost similar facility for the banks.
Earlier, the repayment period for rescheduled loans could be set at a period ranging from 24 months to 48 months. Now, the scope could be extended for a minimum of 60 months to a maximum of 72 months.
The NBFIs would also get three months to decide whether or not to approve a loan rescheduling or restructuring, up from one month in the past.
