Hong Kong banks provide relief measures to help clients increase financial flexibility. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
HSBC and Bank of China (Hong Kong) have moved to provide relief measures to help Hong Kong mortgage loan clients and small and medium-sized enterprises increase financial flexibility to weather economic headwinds caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
An HSBC spokesperson said on Friday that SMEs in Hong Kong can apply to postpone principal repayments through two of the government's SME loan repayment programs. Handling fees are waived for 90 percent Guarantee Product under the SME Financing Scheme, in addition to loan guarantee subsidies.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority welcomes such initiatives and encourages other authorised institutions to consider taking similar action. A proactive response by the banking industry will help mitigate the financial consequences of the outbreak
Raymond Chan,
HKMA executive director (banking supervision)
On Thursday, Bank of China (Hong Kong) introduced the policy of waiving a principal moratorium for mortgage loan borrowers and special loan schemes for SMEs.
From Feb 6 until June 30, customers can apply for a principal moratorium of up to six months and another six months upon expiration, subject to a maximum of 12 months in total. During this period, only interest payments have to be made. BOCHK will waive the relevant handling fees for the application.
From Feb 6 to June 30, BOCHK will also provide an express loan of up to HK$2 million to SMEs without collateral, with preferential interest rates and a repayment period of up to 60 months.
"As BOCHK is assumed to be the city's largest mortgage loan provider so that we predict more mortgage loan lenders will follow," mReferral Mortgage Brokerage senior vice-president Eric Tso said.
"However, we believe that not many mortgage loan borrowers will apply for the principal moratorium because most of them are financially stable," Tao added.
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority welcomes such initiatives and encourages other authorised institutions to consider taking similar action. A proactive response by the banking industry will help mitigate the financial consequences of the outbreak," HKMA executive director (banking supervision) Raymond Chan said.
