23/11/2022
66523 times read
23/11/2022
66523 times read
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 23: In a strategic banking shift for credit policy makers, banks have decided to abandon their strict policy towards financing expatriates and Bedoun residents, and allow the return of financing for non-Kuwaiti employees working in the private sector, with an installment-based financing limit of up to KD 70,000, and payment term of up to eight years as well as without a guarantor, in line with the banking practice that has become common in recent years, as long as the employer entity is trustworthy, reports Al-Rai daily. Banking sources said, “Banks have stopped their policy of turning down a large segment of expatriates and Bedoun residents working in the private sector from borrowing.
They decided to expand towards them with unusual facilities and conditions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is likely that various job segments in the private sector will benefit, even those of low wages.
The banks that tend to lend to non-Kuwaitis again have reduced the conditional salary limit for consumer loans from KD 500 as a minimum to KD 300. They have also reduced the required work period to four months instead of one year minimum as it previously required, provided that the value of the consumer loan is determined according to the value of the salary, and the deduction percentage is determined in accordance with the instructions of the Central Bank of Kuwait.”
Regarding the recently applied banking controls for lending to employees from outside the government sector, the sources said, “The most prominent among these controls is that the customer must meet the conditions prescribed by the supervisory regulator in terms of loan eligibility.
The customer must have a credit history free of default. He must be an employee of a company that is either listed under the Kuwait Stock Exchange or in the bank’s clients’ list, or that has adequate financial stability and efficiency.
If the customer is a Bedoun resident, in addition to the above conditions, he must have a valid security card with sufficient validity”. The sources highlighted the increase in the limit for lending to expatriates and Bedoun residents working in the private sector to 20 times the salary for those with high salaries.