Flood-hit banks get BSP relief

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is granting regulatory relief to banks whose operations were affected by the recent flooding in Luzon.

This follows recent inclement weather brought by weather disturbances in the form of typhoon “Labuyo,” which affected parts of Northern Luzon, and the Southeast Monsoon made worse by tropical storm “Maring,” which led to flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Under the list of relief measures approved by the BSP last week for thrift, rural, and cooperative banks are the exclusion of loans of borrowers in affected areas in the computation of soured loans, waiver of penalties for reserve deficiencies of branches in affected areas, and a moratorium on monthly payments to the BSP for banks undergoing rehabilitation.

Subject to the approval of the BSP, small banks would also be allowed to book probable losses from loans of borrowers in affected areas on a staggered basis over a maximum of five years.

The BSP said it would also waive penalties for delays in the submission of supervisory reports.