Jobs
Properties
Automarket
Databank
EasyBanking
Search
Categories
Companies
People
Sectors
Topics
Business
Events
Conferences
Local trade exhibitions
International trade exhibitions
Professional
Training
Executive training
Trade
Missions
Incoming
Outgoing
Weekly
Newsletter
View latest issue
Subscribe
Update my subscription
Unsubscribe
SUBMIT INFO
News
Conferences
Exhibitions
Tenders
Training
Missions
Search
Categories
Financial
Markets
Business
Events
Trade
Missions
Business
Research
Calculation
Tools
Weekly
Newsletter
SUBMIT INFO
CHAMPION OF THE DAY
LEADERS NEWS
Lower interest
on banking loans
Reference rate cut to 8.5 percent
on dollar and 11.5 percent on lira
The Association of Banks (ABL) has cut the Beirut Reference Rate (BRR) on lending in dollars to 8.5 percent from 9.35 percent.
It lowered the BRR on lira loans to 11.5 percent from 12.45 percent.
The ABL has asked the banks to apply the new rates starting from the current month. The BRR is issued by ABL periodically as a recommendation addressed to the banking sector.
The BRR is a benchmark rate based on the average cost of funds to banks. It is used by banks for the calculation of the actual rates they apply to each client’s case, after adding a credit risk premium and a profit margin.
Makram Sader, Secretary General of ABL, said that the gradual reductions in the BRR reflect the decision of the Central Bank (BDL) to put ceilings on interest rates paid by banks on new deposits or deposits renewed after Dec. 5, 2019.
The upper limits set by BDL in December on interest rates were five percent for deposits in foreign currencies and 8.5 percent for deposits in lira. The Central Bank said that these exceptional measures, which are valid for six months, aim to preserve the value of deposits amid the exceptional circumstances. BDL had also instructed the banks to lower the BRR accordingly.
The weighted average interest rate on loans in lira dropped to 9.69 percent in November from 11.19 percent in October. The reverse happened with the corresponding rate on lending in dollars which increased to 10.64 percent in November from 10.05 percent in the previous month. The increase in interest rate on the dollar, which is usually lower than the rate on the lira, reflects the surge in demand for dollars amid bank restrictions on withdrawals in foreign currencies. Some banks were charging exorbitant rates on overdrafts in dollars.
Reported by Shikrallah Nakhoul
Your browser does not support iframes.
Date Posted:
Jan 20, 2020
Your browser does not support inline frames
ABOUT
ADVERTISE
SUBMIT INFO
RSS
CONTACT US
©
2021 by InfoPro sal. All Rights Reserved