Bank Islam to defer loan repayments

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd will offer deferment or suspension of all financing repayments for six months for individual borrowers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

It will also facilitate requests for a moratorium from corporate borrowers.

In a statement, Bank Islam said the move will be effective From April 1.

The offer is only applicable to performing financing, denominated in the ringgit and not in arrears for more than 90 days as of April 1.

For credit card facilities, Bank Islam will offer to convert the outstanding balances into a three-year term financing with reduced profit rates to help borrowers better manage their debt.

Bank Islam chief executive officer Mohd Muazzam Mohamed said it fully supported Bank Negara Malaysia’s move in sanctioning the financial relief.

Bank Negara today announced several regulatory and supervisory measures in support of efforts by banking institutions in aiding customers to manage the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“The measure augurs well with our priority in ensuring the holistic wellbeing of our staff and customers. 

“These measures would substantially ease cash flow requirements, which in turn, would improve individual’s disposable income and SMEs’ free cash flow thus preserving jobs and ensuring continued economic activity during this period of volatility,” he said.

Prior to this, he said Bank Islam had been proactive in responding to the needs of customers by offering to reschedule and restructure financing including moratoriums to its customers in vulnerable sectors such as the airlines and tourism-related segments adversely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Muazzam said due to Bank Negara’s earlier announcement, customers that previously had accepted Bank Islam’s Covid-19 moratorium or applied to reschedule and restructure their financing obligations can now opt-out from such arrangements if they wish to do so.

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