The Banking sector and public banks in particular, have fulfilled their financial and social responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic while high-risk policies have prevented other banks from doing so,» Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Marouane Abbassi said Thursday.
Abassi, who spoke at a hearing session by the Finance Committee held at the House People’s Representatives (HPR), added that banks will continue on this direction, despite the pressures they face due to the economic situation and lack of short-term visibility.
«Banks have extended deadlines for loan payments for almost 20,000 companies, (a value of 5,000 million dinars). This clearly shows that our banks have approved about 99% of the rescheduling requests submitted to them,» the BCT Governor pointed out.
The volume of exceptional grants reserved by the BCT reached nearly 4 billion dinars for 7,500 companies. An amount of 3 billion dinars has just been disbursed and 92% of requests have been approved.
Abassi spoke of new measures to help businesses cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, preserve jobs and sustain business activities.
Among these measures, the BCT Governor mentioned an exceptional «COVID» financing line that could be paid over 7 years, including 2 years of grace, up to 25% of the company’s turnover in addition to a decrease in the key interest rate by 50% in October 2020 and the establishment of a guarantee mechanism to mobilise nearly 862 million dinars for companies.

Source: TAP News Agency