The Central Bank of Bahrain has asked banks and financing firms to defer loan repayments for an additional six months starting January, in a move aimed at helping borrowers hurt by the coronavirus crisis.
The option to postpone instalments is to be offered to all customers residing in the kingdom, whether individuals or companies, the central bank said in a circular issued to banks on Tuesday.
An exception relates to amounts owed on credit cards and loans transferred to the court, it said.
The central bank added that it will reassess the continuation of such measures in 2021.
The announcement comes after Bahrain’s Ministry of Health said last week that coronavirus vaccinations at designated residential health centres started on Friday.
Health authorities in Bahrain have previously said that 27 medical centres will be set up to provide jabs for up to 10,000 people per day.
Bahrain, a country of around 1.7 million population, so far has recorded more than 90,000 cases and 350 deaths.
Earlier in December, the kingdom’s National Health Regulatory Authority approved the registration of a vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm.
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