In light of the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak to the economy and operations of corporates, the HKMA together with the Banking Sector SME Lending Coordination Mechanism (Mechanism) announced on 17 April 2020 the launch of a Pre-approved Principal Payment Holiday Scheme for eligible corporate customers (the Scheme) on 1 May 2020. Under the Scheme, banks in Hong Kong will offer principal payment holidays to covered corporate borrowers on a pre-approval basis. The Scheme has been extended for four times in November 2020, May 2021, November 2021 and May 2022 for 6 months each time, to end-October 2022.
Under the announcement on 23 February 2022, in addition to the extension of the Scheme for another six months to the end of October 2022, the Scheme offers a one-year partial repayment option for those customers who are financially capable and willing to resume principal repayment on a voluntary basis.
Launch Date
1 May 2020
Am I an eligible customer for the Scheme?
Covered borrowers are corporate borrowers which:
The HKMA requests all banks to participate in the Scheme. Customers may contact their banks to enquire about their eligibility.
What are the payments covered under the Scheme?
Resume partial repayment on a voluntary basis
Corporate customers currently participating in the Scheme may, at any time, opt to start to resume partial repayment of the original principal repayment amount on a voluntary basis. In principle, borrowers can resume repaying 20% of the original principal repayment amount over a period of one year. The specific treatments of different types of loans are set out below:
How to apply?
In regards to the extension of principal payment holidays, banks will not issue individual notifications to eligible customers regarding the extension of the Scheme. Corporate customers in need of relief are requested to contact their banks. Banks may request customers (especially those who have been granted multiple extensions of payment holidays) to provide up-to-date business and financial information to better understand their needs when processing their cases.
Enquiries or feedback
For any enquiries or feedback for the Scheme, you may contact the HKMA's dedicated email account: ppphs@hkma.gov.hk or enquiry hotline: (852)2878 1199.
1 For loans which have been extended for 540 days or more successively since first drawdown, banks have the flexibility to offer different forms of suitable credit relief to help the customers ride out the current difficulties, subject to prudent risk management principles.
2 For trade loans which have been extended for 270 days or more successively since first drawdown, banks may adopt a flexible approach and consider whether other forms of relief are more suitable to help the customers ride out the current difficulties on a case-by-case basis, subject to prudent risk management principles.
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