State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced a payment relief to bank customers who are worried about paying installments of banks against auto finance, housing finance, personal loans, and credit card payments.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, customers who were regular on their payments up till 31 Dec 2019 can request banks to defer the principal amount of installments up to 1 year without any fee or increase in mark-up rate.
They will continue to service the mark-up amount, the SBP added.
The decision was taken to give relief to customers in testing times when the economic slowdown in tandem with Coronavirus pandemic caused the unemployment and sudden decline in income of the self-employed group across the country.
A significant section of the customers is likely to benefit from the scheme particularly when interest rates saw a reduction and the principal payments could be deferred by up to one year.
Bank customers, who are unable to service the mark-up amount or need deferment exceeding one year, may request the bank to reschedule their facilities.
Borrowers can request for deferment or principal amount of rescheduling of loans by calling from the registered number or from their authorized email addresses, SBP further added.
If the rescheduling/restructuring is done within 180 days of the loans being past due, such financing facilities will continue to be treated as regular.
The deferment of the principal component in installments or rescheduling or restructuring shall not affect the credit history of the borrower and therefore it should not be reported in the ECIB/ private credit Bureau as restructuring.
