Bank Negara Malaysia Announces 6 Months Loan Moratorium & Extended MCO Period

The Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has announced to the nation an encouraging news today with the automatic suspension of loan repayment for 6 months, effective April 1st!

This measure is mainly targeting all bank customers including individuals and small and medium enterprises to relieve the burden on businesses and households who are expected to be affected by the outbreak of Covid-19. The automatic moratorium is granted to all loans such as home loans, car loans, personal loans, excluding credit cards. The purpose of this initiative is to alleviate the cash flow dilemma faced by individuals and businesses during the current global pandemic, Covid-19. Bank Negara Malaysia has informed all financial institutions to provide sufficient information to all individuals and SMEs, including how the suspended loan or repayment will be treated during the suspension period & options for them to resume their repayments/payments after the Movement Control Order ends.

The automatic suspension of loan & repayment measures is limited to all ringgit-denominated loans and loans with arrears not exceeding 90 days as of April 1, 2020. Please note that this suspension of loan & repayment measure does not apply to credit card balances. Bank Negara Malaysia said banks shall offer the options for customers to convert their outstanding balances into a term loan/financing of a tenure of not more than three years and an effective interest/profit rate of not more than 13% per annum.

Other than this, our Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced on the extension of Restriction Movement Period or the Movement Control Order (MCO) till 14th of April 2020 to control the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia effectively. This measure is reasonably needed and he pleas for the citizens of Malaysia to stay at home during the MCO.  

While staying at home is a boring task for some, but it isn’t something hard to do. Let’s for once, be good, listen & #stayathome #dudukdirumah #endscovid19