RBI extends moratorium on loans for another 3 months till Aug

Mumbai:  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday slashed interest rates, extended moratorium on loan repayments and allowed banks to lend more to corporates in an effort to support the economy which is likely to contract for the first time in over four decades.

The benchmark repurchase (repo) rate was cut by 40 basis points to 4 per cent, Governor Shaktikanta Das said announcing the decisions taken by the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that met ahead of its scheduled meeting in early June.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate was reduced to 3.35 per cent from 3.75 per cent.

On the other hand RBI in March, the central bank had allowed a three-month moratorium on payment of all term loans due between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020.

Accordingly, the repayment schedule and all subsequent due dates, as also the tenor for such loans, were shifted across the board by three months.

As a result of this moratorium, individuals’ EMI repayments of loans taken were not deducted from their bank accounts, providing much-needed liquidity.

The EMI payments will restart only once the moratorium time period expires on August 31.