The government on Wednesday approved sanction of Rs 973.74 crore to State Bank of India (SBI) as reimbursement related to loan moratorium that was implemented in 2020 amid the pandemic.
Briefing media on the Cabinet decision, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said the Budget had made provision of Rs 5,500 cr for the scheme of ex-gratia payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months to borrowers in specified loan accounts.
Of this, Rs 4,626 crore payment was made in 2020-21, he said, adding, an additional claim of Rs 1,846 crore is pending. To clear this, he said, the Union Cabinet has approved sanction of remaining Rs 973.74 cr to SBI towards payment of these dues. On March 27, 2020, RBI announced a loan moratorium on payment of instalments of term loans falling due between March 1 and May 31, 2020, due to the pandemic. Later, the same was extended to August 31.
