Up to Tk 20 lakh in interest rebate likely
An individual borrower may get a maximum rebate of Tk 20 lakh from their total loan interest for the period of April and May, said a central bank official -- in what can be viewed as a stroke of good news for large borrowers.
Earlier on May 3, with the view to giving relief to borrowers from the economic onslaught from the pandemic, the central bank directed banks to transfer all interest accrued or to be accrued between April 1 and May 31 from all of their loans to an interest-free blocked account.
To facilitate banks to implement the move, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday announced that the government will provide Tk 2,000 crore to banks as subsidy, reports UNB.
The prime minister said that the Tk 2,000 crore will be distributed among the 1.38 crore loan takers proportionately.
Now, if the central bank fixes a certain portion of the rebate for all borrowers the maximum rebate would come to Tk 20 lakh, said a Bangladesh Bank official requesting anonymity to speak candidly on the matter.
The central bank is yet to work out the rebate percentage but the focus would be on parity, he said.
Against the backdrop, the central bank yesterday sent a letter to all banks asking them to inform how many borrowers are enjoying more than Tk 100 crore loans.
The latest government decision has brought great relief to both banks and borrowers as lenders earlier thought that they would have to bear the interest rebate on lending.
The announcement came while the Prime Minister was publishing the results of SSC and equivalent examinations from her official residence Ganobhaban through videoconferencing.
She also said that the government earlier suspended the interest of bank loans for two months and the amount of that suspended interest was Tk 16,549 crore.
"The rest of the interest money will have to be paid by the loan takers in the next 12 months," she said.
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