TBC Bank, Bank of Georgia, Liberty Bank to postpone payment on loans for three months due to coronavirus
The banks say the decision has been made to prevent people gathering in bank branches and thus to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgian commercial banks, particularly TBC Bank, Bank of Georgia and Liberty Bank will accept postponed payment on loans for three months.
The banks say the decision has been made to prevent people gathering in bank branches and thus to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
TBC Bank offers consumers to postpone paying not only interest rate on loans, but also the loan principal. The decision is made for all physical individuals, micro, small and medium size business and also for large business which are involved in tourism, the food industry or in an industry which is related to the gathering of many people.
Bank of Georgia and Liberty Bank say the decision is only for loans of physical individuals.
The interest rate on loans allocated for three months will be distributed in the following months, says the Bank of Georgia.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili encourages citizens to be more careful amid the recent coronavirus outbreak in the world, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
Georgian Government has urged citizens to avoid visits at public service halls, territorial offices and notary bureaus except in cases of extreme necessity for the next two weeks after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of China-born Covid-19 virus a pandemic. The restriction may apply to gatherings of 100 people or more.
The Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia recommends state agencies and private organisations to work remotely to avoid the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Georgian citizens will have free access to 2093 electronic books on www.lit.ge for a month due to prolonged school holidays amid coronavirus, the information was announced at a meeting held by the Ministry of Education today.
What support can business expect?
The government of Georgia has presented an anti-crisis plan for Georgian businesses in order to ease the burden caused by the coronavirus crisis. The government responded to the demand of the hotels, restaurants, tourist agencies and tour operators in Georgia and decided to postpone payment of property and income tax by four months.
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has sold $20 million at foreign exchange auction to control the national currency’s changing value against the US dollar.
Additional nine individuals have been placed under quarantine for the violation of self-isolation rules to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 virus, the Georgian Interior Ministry reported earlier today. The violations were discovered through the joint monitoring of Georgia’s National Disease Control Centre and the patrol police.
The National Bank of Georgia recommends that consumers use contactless pay methods instead of paying by cash to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. It also urges people to use distant banking services instead of going to the banks.
Starting today Georgia will close borders with neighbouring Armenia and Azerbaijan for ten days to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia discussed the temporary suspension of movement with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan PM Ali Asadov in telephone conversations yesterday.
TBC Bank has received a license from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan to launch operations in the country starting June 2020.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced today that 42,000 farmers will be exempt from paying irrigation taxes in 2020.