This archive report was first published on 12 May 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect various sectors in Rwanda, banks have come up with special products to provide relief to their distressed clients.
Bank of Kigali's (BK) 'Turikumwe' loan product, for instance, has seen over 2,000 online applications and 150 loan approvals in less than two weeks. The loan is specifically designed for government officials who forewent their April salaries as a contribution to COVID-19 relief causes.
According to information from BK, many of the applicants are high-ranking government officials who needed a reprieve from cash flow challenges. The bank is charging 15.5 per cent interest on the loan, payable in 12 months, with a grace period of three months.
Another bank, BPR Atlas Mara, has introduced a salary loan specifically for government officials who offered their April salaries to COVID-19 relief causes. The loan offers a salary equivalent of one month, and the bank does an internal assessment of the applicant to ascertain if they have an active contract with the employer.
IM Bank Rwanda has also reduced its base lending rate from 16.5 per cent to 16 per cent to give its customers relief on their loan repayment burden during this time. The reduction, which took effect on April 15, will apply to those currently servicing loans and those who will borrow in the coming days.
Commercial banks in Rwanda have already restructured loans worth Rwf255 billion ($272 million) by April 10, following the central bank's directive to ease loan repayment by facilitating loan restructuring for their clients.
