BOSVG offers loan moratorium to Hurricane Beryl affected customers

The Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines (BOSVG), has instituted a Customer Support Programme under which loan clients who were directly impacted by Hurricane Beryl can obtain a deferral on their loan repayment for a specified period.

The bank said in a notice to clients, that under this programme payment on loan principal and interest will be deferred. The loan moratorium will be for eligible personal and business customers for a period of up to six months commencing July 1, 2024, and ending December 31, 2024.

The bank said they “are aware of the devastation caused by the recent passage of Hurricane Beryl, mainly in the Grenadines and some parts of the mainland. We recognize the potential impact this will have on the ability of a number of our loan customers to pay your existing loans in the immediate period ahead”.

Based on initial assessment, the bank said eligible customers will comprise of the following:

• All loan customers on the portfolios of the southern Grenadines branches of Canouan and Union Island
• Customers in the northern Grenadines and the mainland who were directly impacted, whether by way of damage, loss or reduction in business income, and loss or reduction in employment income.

Given the challenges with communication in the southern Grenadines in particular, the bank said they have already suspended payments for the customers on the Canouan and Union Island portfolios. “We have also received requests from customers in the northern Grenadines and the mainland, which are being reviewed and processed,” it added. However, customers whose employment or businesses are not immediately impacted will continue to pay their loans as per the agreed terms.
However, the bank said they will consider on a case-by-case basis, those customers whose combined disposable income was indirectly impacted, mainly from job losses within the immediate, and, or extended family.

Persons who take up the bank’s moratorium offer are, however, advised that the maturity dates of their loans will be extended by a maximum of six months to facilitate the repayment of the deferred principal and interest payments. “Accordingly, in the majority of cases, loans will be restructured at the end of the moratorium period to incorporate the unpaid interest.”

The bank has also made it clear that the Customer Support Programme will not be available to customers whose loans were already over 90 days in arrears and classified as non-performing as at July 1, 2024.