Author: Philip vanDyk

“However, banks have quite independently loaned $6.9 billion to business customers in the four weeks since March 26.”

Banks say they’re here to help but can’t help every business in every sector. “If the business case doesn’t stack up or isn’t justifiable, well that’s when it gets really hard and really challenging,” said New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont.

The Bankers’ Association said so far $28.9 billion worth of new loans or restructured loans had been agreed with close to 36,000 customers.

As businesses around the country race to prepare for life under Covid-19 Alert Level 3, 1 NEWS can reveal since the lockdown started banks have lent more than $6.3 billion to businesses.

“This proposal would also add to the range of support our banks are already offering affected customers to help them get through. For example, banks have to date allowed around 100,000 customers reduce repayments on loans worth $33 billion, and completely defer repayments on loans worth $17 billion.”  

“The fact that banks have lent $5.5b to businesses since we went into lockdown clearly shows they’re lending where they can. They still need to be responsible lenders and not everyone looking for a loan will meet the lending criteria,” Beaumont said. None of that $5.5b loaned by banks since March 26 forms part of the… Read more »

Data released by the New Zealand Bankers’ Association yesterday showed that since the lockdown began on March 25, the nation’s trading banks had provided 13,559 businesses with new loans totalling $5.5 billion, moved to either interest only or reduced principal repayments and interest on $17.4 billion of existing loans to 13,549 businesses, and that a… Read more »

The New Zealand Bankers’ Association welcomed the move, and said it lined up with other Reserve Bank initiatives to free up the financial system at this extraordinary time.

Banks have collectively agreed to a massive programme of loan repayment “holidays” for customers, and have so far allowed over 100,000 household and business borrowers to make reduced repayments on their loans, or temporarily stop making repayments altogether.