KUALA LUMPUR: Banking customers, including individuals and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will be allowed to delay the repayment of their existing loans, including mortgages and hire-purchases, for a period of six months.

This is part of the central bank’s new measures to assist borrowers experiencing temporary financial constraints due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

In a letter to the heads of financial institutions today, Bank Negara said the automatic moratorium will be effective from April 1.

"Banking institutions should provide individuals and SME borrowers with adequate information on how the suspended loan/financing repayments/payments will be treated during the moratorium period," the central bank said.

The automatic moratorium is applicable to ringgit-denominated loans or financing that are not in arrears exceeding 90 days as at April 1, 2020.

The moratorium does not apply to credit card balances.

For outstanding credit card balances, Bank Negara said customers should be offered the option to convert the outstanding balances into term-loan of not more than three years.

"For corporate borrowers, banking institutions are strongly encouraged to facilitate requests for a moratorium," the letter stated.