STANDARD Bank Namibia will grant a loan repayment holiday to SMEs and tourism ventures and other debtors to cushion them against the effects of nosediving economic activities.
The bank’s chief executive, Vetumbuavi Mungunda, announced this in a statement yesterday.
Over the past two weeks, many businesses have experienced a plunge in demand for services due to the global outbreak of Covid-19, which has disrupted production and revenue streams.
Given that the tourism and game hunting sectors had experienced the immediate impact in the past three weeks; the bank is extending a capital and interest repayment holiday for up to 12 months to its clients in this sector.
This means businesses in the tourism sector that have loans with the bank will get a break from their monthly payment obligations for the next 12 months.
Mungunda explained the bank’s choice of the tourism sector and the year’s repayment holiday in which the sector is projected to recover and the time predicted the world will take to combat Covid-19.
“Our engagements with the tourism sector point to a potential recovery in this sector only over the next nine to 12 months, provided the spread of the virus is contained,” he said.
The bank also indicated that they are extending a further relief in the form of capital and interest repayment holidays for up to six months until 30 September 2020 to all Small and Medium Enterprises clients with an annual turnover of less than N$10 million, regardless of the sector in which they operate.
He explained that the relief will enable SMEs to utilise their cash reserves to pay much needed wages and necessary expenditure during the lockdown period.
The bank also waivered all student loans interest for a period of three months ending 30 June 2020, attracting 0%.
Mungunda explained the temporary halt on interest, that it will assist the parents and guardians who are dealing with the additional pressure of unplanned travel and repatriation costs and the unplanned cost of accommodating the students at home.
He indicated that after June 2020 they will review the student loan arrangement based on the circumstances prevailing at the time.
Mungunda added that after their assessment, the bank believes it is imperative that it offers relief to “our clients impacted by Covid-19 with respect to their loan facilities with us”.
According to the notice on Bank Windhoek’s website, the bank will not implement a general payment holiday for their clients but rather on individual basis.
“We will not be implementing a blanket payment holiday of three months or longer,” the statement read, encouraging clients to make arrangements directly with their branches.
“We believe by doing this we can assist clients to manage debt responsibly,” the statement read.
Nedbank spokesperson Gernot de Klerk said they are committed to providing help and relief to their clients who find themselves directly impacted by this pandemic.
“However, each application will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in order for us to provide our clients with the best possible solutions,” De Klerk said.
“As an essential service, Nedbank Namibia is committed to serving its customers during the lockdown period by keeping our branches open to the public,” he said.
Email: erastus@namibian.com.na
