Uganda’s Central Bank, Bank of Uganda (BoU), has issued a raft of guidelines to cushion borrowers and lenders from the negative economic impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidelines, particularly credit relief measures, seek to ensure the stability of the financial sector, as well as facilitate the financial intermediation process during the pandemic period.
These guidelines include:
- •Loan repayment suspension for 12 months
- •The supervised financial institution to decide whether or not they will offer credit relief to a customer
- •Credit status at the time of suspending repayments to remain unchanged for the 12 months
- •Suspension of prepayment of arrears as a condition for restructuring a credit facility for 12 months
- •The event of restructuring a credit facility due to impact of COVID -19 shall not be treated as an adverse change in the credit risk profile of the borrower, neither shall it be reported to a Credit Reference Bureau (CRB)
- •Write-offs of Loans and Advances classified as Loss as of 31st March 2020
The guidelines, which took effect from 1st April 2020, apply to all commercial banks, credit institutions, and Microfinance Deposit-Taking Institutions (MDIs) that are regulated by the Bank of Uganda, and not classified as ‘Loss’ as at 31st March 2020.
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