Bangladesh Bank Halts Interest Payment on All Loans

Bangladesh Bank has declared a suspension of interest payments on all loans due in April and May to support borrowers during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Sunday notice, the central bank advised the banks to hold separate accounts of the accrued profit. Guidelines about how to handle interest payments will be given at a later date.

It said the banks will have to transfer the payable interests of the two months into blocked accounts.

We will not be able to move the balances from such funds to wages. When they've already achieved so, they'll have to change the accounts through the reverse application, the central bank said.

Executive Director of the Central Bank, Kazi Saidur Rahman, said he issued a guideline on the orders of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

On April 27 Hasina moved to allay the concerns of business leaders about the payment of interest on loans during the continuing coronavirus shutdown.

She said that no one will care about interest payments, as Bangladesh's greatest problem right now is to secure lives and keep livelihoods going.