Borrowers may voluntarily reschedule and refinance their credit payment

The Minister of Economy and Public Finance, Marcelo Montenegro, reported that on this day a draft supreme decree was approved that indicates that, Voluntarily, borrowers can reschedule and refinance their credit payment if your income was affected.

“President Luis Arce and the cabinet have approved a draft supreme decree that is intended for borrowers to voluntarily ask their credit agents to evaluate the possibility of rescheduling or refinancing (of their credit). because their (economic) income for the payment of the loan has been affected due to weather events, social conflicts or the economic environment, which can have a negative impact,” Montenegro said at a press conference.

The minister added that financial entities and financial leasing companies, They are empowered to adapt their processes, credit analysis and evaluation technologies to establish agile and simplified processes.

Regarding the decree, Montenegro explained that operations that have a residual term of up to two years may be rescheduled in a period not exceeding five years. On the other hand, for the rest of the credits, the restructuring will be based on the regulations issued by the Financial System Supervision Authority (ASFI).

“The refinancing and rescheduling procedure will be carried out based on a refinancing and credit rescheduling request form which will be implemented by ASFI. Financial intermediation entities and leasing companies must evaluate rescheduling requests within a maximum period that will be established by the ASFI.”

Montenegro once again emphasized that This is “a support measure” and not an obligation for those people who voluntarily want to reschedule and refinance the loans.

Minutes before the conference of the head of the Economy, President Arce referred to the approved decree on his social networks.

“To contribute to the economic recovery of borrowers of the national financial system affected by adverse weather events, social conflicts and others that affect their ability to pay, Today we approved a DS that provides that Financial Intermediation Entities and Financial Leasing Companies attend and evaluate requests for refinancing and/or rescheduling of credit operations of debtors who voluntarily require it,” the president wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, according to a statement, the ASFI reported that borrowers in default in the financial system have facilities to honor their loans with rescheduling, the immobility of the risk rating and the extension of the period from 91 to 121 days to activate a judicial collection process.

The director of the entity, Ivette Espinoza, explained that the rescheduling of credits, which include grace periods and risk rating immobility, has been in effect since August 16 – through Circular/ASFI/DNP/12062/2024- and makes it possible for borrowers who for various reasons could not meet the payment of their installments access a rescheduling according to your particular needs.

Rescheduling involves modifying any of the initial conditions under which the credit was contracted, which is why this can also occur. grace period in which different solutions can be agreed, such as, for example, paying less interest and more capital, or other types of measures.

Espinoza indicated that “in order not to harm borrowers, rescheduling does not imply a change in debtor qualification to a higher risk category, that before it was done automatically, and the status of the borrower’s credit does not change either.” When the rating change is applied, from A to B, for example, the borrower is prevented from accessing credit in the future, which will not happen now.