MANILA, April 15 (Reuters) - The Philippines will allow banks to give borrowers more time to settle their loans as part of a package of relief measures designed to support consumers and businesses hit by the energy crisis, its central bank said on Wednesday.
This includes grace periods of up to six months, and up to one year for agricultural loans, subject to bank assessments, according to a resolution approved last week by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Banks may also temporarily avoid classifying these loans as past due or non-performing.
"BSP-supervised financial institutions are expected to exercise prudent management in availing these measures and to ensure relief is only extended to borrowers whose repayment capacity has been materially affected by the energy emergency," the BSP said in a statement.
The BSP also urged banks to temporarily suspend fees for online transactions, to ease costs for consumers and businesses.
On Monday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr suspended excise taxes on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas to help the public cope with soaring fuel prices driven by the conflict in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by David Stanway)
