Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday issued guidelines on bank interest waiver for the month of April and May, granting a full interest waiver facility for bank loans up to Tk1 lakh, said a BB circular.
The central bank also allowed the banks to shift the applicable interest to its earnings, bringing a great respite to the banking sector.
Under the guidelines, customers who took bank credit up to Tk1 lakh will enjoy full interest waiver facility.
The rate of interest for the borrowers with credit facility ranging above Tk 1 lakh to 10 lakh, will enjoy interest waiver by two percentage points for the period.
Customers who availed credit facility above Tk10 lakh, will enjoy 1 percentage point interest waiver, the BB circular says , adding that the admissible amount of interest waiver will be as high as Tk12 lakh.
However, the banks were asked to implement the interest waiver scheme after getting confirmation from the central bank.
The government will reimburse the waived amount to banks through the central bank.
On the recovery of the remaining interest, the BB circular says the interest could be realized in equal monthly installment spanning twelve months, starting July.
However, banks were allowed to settle the remaining interest recovery based on bank-customer relationship if the loans were supposed to be adjustable before June, 2021.
If any bank has already collected interest amount from any client the bank will have to return the amount.
The banks were asked to file a claim to the central bank, seeking amount equivalent to their waived amount by July 15, this year.
