Breaking news: A three-month deferment for loan repayments has been published in the Official Gazette. According to the latest announcement, a decision to postpone loan obligations for three months has been issued and published in the Official Gazette. The Presidential decision published in the Official Gazette stipulates that tradespeople and artisans affected by the coronavirus pandemic will have their loan repayments deferred for three months. Accordingly, low-interest loans obtained from Halkbank by tradespeople and artisans who suffered losses due to the coronavirus outbreak and were unable to repay them have been deferred for a three-month period.
Under the adopted measure, a new regulation has been put in place for tradespeople and artisans operating across Turkey whose businesses were harmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Procedures and principles have been established for deferring loans provided by Halkbank to members of the Türkiye Tradesmen and Artisans Credit and Guarantee Cooperatives Unions Central Union and its affiliated regional unions, whether loans were given directly or guaranteed by credit and guarantee cooperatives under the low-interest loan arrangements.
No Application Required for the Three-Month Deferment
No application is required for the three-month deferment. According to the decision, debts arising from low-interest loans taken out on or before June 30, 2020, and maturing between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, that remain unpaid as of the date the decision entered into force, will be deferred for three months without any application, with interest accrued and without changing the number of installments.
During the deferment period, the portion of installment principal and accrued interest attributable to the borrower under the relevant decisions will have the bank and insurance transaction tax added equally across the remaining installments. As part of the decision, tradespeople and artisans whose loans are deferred must sign a commitment not to reduce their number of employees during the deferment period. Those found to have reduced employee numbers will be removed from the deferment program. Any income losses incurred by the bank as a result of the deferred loans will be paid by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. The decision will take effect on July 1, 2020.