Belarusbank is ready to provide individuals with a deferral on the repayment of foreign currency loans

September 20, Minsk /BELTA/. Belarusbank has decided to grant borrowers a grace period for repaying the principal on foreign currency loans, the bank's press service told BELTA. In accordance with the recommendations of the National Bank, Belarusbank has decided to consider borrowers' applications for foreign currency loan repayment individually and amend the loan terms. "This is done to reduce the credit risk on foreign currency loans during the period of achieving a single equilibrium exchange rate for the Belarusian ruble," the press service explained. To reduce the financial burden on individuals for repaying existing foreign currency loan debt due to the increase in foreign currency exchange rates, the bank has prepared a set of measures. Thus, in the presence of objective circumstances (increase in the ruble equivalent of loan payments, decrease in income, job loss, prolonged illness), as well as for socially significant categories of borrowers (large families, disabled persons, pensioners, veterans, former prisoners, and others), the bank's credit committees have been authorized to grant a grace period for principal repayment for up to six months. The bank may also establish individual principal repayment schedules for up to six months, taking into account the borrower's solvency, with subsequent provision of installment payments for the underpaid principal amount within the final loan term. It is also possible to extend the repayment terms for loans granted in foreign currency. Measures to amend loan terms are carried out after assessing the borrower's ability to fulfill their obligations to the bank. In this case, citizens who have received foreign currency loans and are experiencing difficulties in repaying them must contact the bank with a written application. Earlier, the bank's board had already taken measures to reduce the financial burden on individuals for repaying foreign currency loans, in particular, the interest rate was reduced to 10% per annum. In addition, upon borrowers' applications, loan terms are extended by 5 years for real estate financing loans and by 3 years for consumer loans. At the same time, due to the increase in the cost of attracted resources, including due to the increase in the National Bank's refinancing rate, Belarusbank has decided to amend the interest rates on new loan agreements in Belarusian rubles for consumer needs and real estate financing concluded with individuals, starting from September 22. However, this increase did not affect the interest rates on loans for large families. "Since the beginning of this year, the growth rate of interest rates on the bank's loans for real estate financing for citizens in need of housing improvement has been lower than the growth rate of the National Bank's refinancing rate, which is why the interest rate on this type of loan is as close as possible to the National Bank's refinancing rate," the press service added. -0-