Support to businesses impacted economically by Covid-19

13 MAR 2020

Support to businesses impacted economically by Covid-19

MCB has welcomed the decision of the Bank of Mauritius to set up a Special Relief fund of the order of Rs 5 billion by banks for the benefit of businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic, which is spreading exponentially in several regions of the world, has had a negative impact on several economic activities worldwide. MCB adheres to the setting up of the Special Relief measure, announced today by the Minister of Finance, and joins the concerted effort to support the economic sectors which are or which may be impacted by the pandemic.

The Special Relief provides, among other things, for loans with an interest rate of 2.5% per year. The loan has a six-month moratorium on the repayment of capital and interest, and a two-year repayment period. Moreover, the banks' cash reserve ratio is being reduced from 9% to 8%.

Alain Law Min, Chief Executive Officer, MCB Ltd : "As an important player in the Mauritian economy, MCB welcomes this announcement. Depending on the very difficult international context, we must show solidarity with economic operators. And, we intend to play our full role in order to support operators who suffer directly from the consequences of Covid-19 on their activities. We understand the situation to be serious on the international scale and we will do our utmost to help our customers, while maintaining our credit policy. The plan put in place by the Bank of Mauritius (BOM) goes in the same direction: it provides support to economic operators in difficulty, while hoping that the situation relating to Covid-19 does not last. As of Monday, we will be working with the BOM to operationalise the scheme, with the aim of helping, as quickly as possible, operators affected by the drop in activity caused by Covid-19. "