Special Correspondent :
The central bank has moved forward to formulate a new loan rescheduling policy in line with a draft sent by the Ministry of Finance.
The financial institutions division under the ministry of finance sent the draft on April 30, outlining terms and conditions to be applied for rescheduling of loans under the new policy.
The draft was given approval in-principle at a recent high-level meeting chaired by the finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
“Bangladesh Bank (BB) has already started working on the draft. A circular would be issued soon allowing the loan defaulters to regularize their debts with relaxed terms and condition,” a senior central bank official told The New Nation on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
According to the draft policy, defaulters will be allowed to reschedule their loans for 10 years after making 2 percent down payment and 9.0 percent interest.
Both large and small borrowers will be able to get the facility for regularising their loans under the new policy. The finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal earlier said that the new policy is a special arrangement for the troubled borrowers will come into effect from May 1.
He also said that the new loan restructuring policy would allow defaulters to reschedule their loans for 12 years after making 2 percent down payment with 9.0 percent simple interest rate. “The central bank has taken up several issues in the draft for further revision. The revision would be made considering interest of the banking system. Once it is complete, the draft will be placed before the BB’s board for approval,” the central bank official said.
He further said that the new loan rescheduling policy would come into effect following an official circular. The circular will be published soon.
When asked, the central bank official said that the new loan rescheduling policy would be offered for all so that it cannot pave the way of undue favours to a handful of borrowers.
At present, defaulters can reschedule their loans for at most 3 years by providing 10 to 15 percent down payment.
In 2018, banks have altogether rescheduled an amount of Tk 23,210 crore non-performing loans, up 22 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the central bank.
