Central Bank of Kuwait Tells Lenders to Postpone Customer Dues

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) on Sunday instructed banks to postpone amounts due from coronavirus affected customers for six months without applying any penalties, it said in a statement. The move, part of various measures by the central bank in response to the coronavirus crisis, extends a previous directive in March which stipulated a three month postponement. The six month window runs from March to September.

Elsewhere in the region, the United Arab Emirates central bank on Sunday urged commercial lenders to use the US$70-billion-worth of capital and liquidity measures launched by the regulator to support the economy during the coronavirus crisis. “Banks are urged to process more applications from individuals, corporates and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) whose business operations are affected by the implications of the pandemic,” the central bank said.

It said in a statement that commercial banks have already used more than 30% of the funds allocated under the Targeted Economic Support Scheme, adding it will start publishing the usage of the scheme by individual banks from May 2020.