The head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, announced on Monday the recommendations that the regulator gives to commercial banks in relation to servicing loans during the prolonged non-working period due to the coronavirus crisis.
The recommendations include information about who will be granted loan repayment holidays and who will have to make payments according to the established schedule, who is already applying for restructuring and how much money the economy will lose due to the epidemic.
According to Realnoe Vremya, individual borrowers who find themselves in a difficult situation can take advantage of credit holidays, which allow postponing payments on loans for up to 6 months.
Despite the virtually complete halting of businesses and production, the Bank of Russia refrained from a general extension to loans during the declared non-working days. The central bank has published a special release on the work of financial organizations in non-working three weeks — from 4 to 30 April 2020. In fact, this is the regulator’s instruction for commercial banks.
The release states that borrowers must meet their obligations on time, even in the non-working days.
“The Bank proceeds from the fact that obligations under financial contracts, the term of which falls on non-working days, must be fulfilled by debtors within the period stipulated in the contract,” the regulator recommends. On the other hand, late payments are allowed, but on an individual basis.
“At the same time, the Bank of Russia also assumes that creditors, acting in good faith, will take into account the actual ability of the debtor to fulfill the corresponding obligation,” it said.
