Coronavirus crisis: RBI Governor extends moratorium period by 3 months

New Delhi, May 22: The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Governor, Shaktikanta Das held a press conference on Friday where he extended the moratorium on loan repayments by three months from June 1 to August 31. This decision by the RBI Governor has come due to the extension of the nationwide lockdown.

Earlier, the RBI Governor also said that six-member monetary policy committee has voted 5:1 in favour of 40 bps cut in interest rate.

Addressing the media, Das said, "There is a ray of hope from the normal monsoon, says RBI Governor. Kharif sowing is at a high. These developments would improve farm income and encourage trade."

In the press conference, Das also extended Rs 15,000 crore line of credit to EXIM Bank.

The Governor also said that the deferment of working capital during six months will be converted into a term loan and this can be rapid by March 2021.

He also said that India is seeing collapse of demand, electricity, dip in petroleum product consumption and fall in private consumption. "Private consumption has seen biggest blow due to COVID-19 outbreak, investment demand has halted," the Governor said.

The RBI Governor's address to the press conference comes ahead of the meeting of RBI's monetary policy committee between June 3-5. The committee is likely to announce its second bi-monthly policy of 2020-21 on June 5.