“As we support our business clients they can, in turn, provide the support to their employees and together we will work through the impact of Covid-19 ,” the Bankers Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT) said in a statement on Thursday morning as it outlined a series of measures.

These were honed at a meeting of the Banking and Insurance Financial Services Sub Committee of the Cabinet which met yesterday. The measures to be adopted include the following:

1. Banks will all be reducing their Prime Lending rate by at least 1.5% following the reduction in Repo Rate by the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.  This reduction will reduce the interest cost for all clients whose loans are re-priced on Prime.

2. In addition to this interest rate reduction, for varying loan types applied to both Individuals and business clients, some deferral of interest and/or principal payments will be considered by banks for at least one month for clients wishing to access this based on their circumstances being adversely impacted by the measures taken related to Covid -19.  Arrangements will vary by institution and by type of loan.  This will allow our customers to use the cash from these payments, for critical needs over the next month. 

3. Consideration is being given by Banks to temporarily reduce the rates on credit card balances.  The specifics of the changes will be communicated by individual Banks to their respective customer base.

“Individually and collectively, Banks will leverage their strengths to provide creative and flexible solutions to our customers.  The focus at this time is to assist customers, both business and individual, in meeting their critical, immediate and short-term needs, to weather this global pandemic.   Each Bank will customise and roll out the solutions to their individual clients,”  BATT said while noting that it fully understands the measures being taken by the Government.

“As a country, we have the wherewithal and the resources required to address this threat, especially if we act urgently and collectively. Our financial services sector is very well capitalized, strong and geared to respond effectively to our needs as a society, in the circumstances posed by COVID-19,” the Bankers Association said.