Avoid low-interest COVID-19 personal loans, unless strapped for cash

This is the time to utilize your emergency fund. If you don’t have one, partially use investments meant for your long-term goals

Dev Ashish

The ongoing pandemic has derailed normal life and, more importantly, impacted the personal finances of the common Indian. Pay cuts, deferred salaries and loss of revenue for those in business have become common. So, many banks and NBFCs have launched special, low-interest personal loans. Interest rates start at as low as 7.25 per cent for such loans and many public sector banks offer the loan at 7.25-8.45 per cent. These are aptly called COVID-19 personal loans, as they are being offered for the specific purpose of helping people tide over a temporary liquidity crunch.

But first, not everyone needs this loan.

The need for a personal loan

There are two kinds of people currently. First are those whose finances are impacted due to this crisis (due to pay-cuts, salary deferrals, loss of revenues for business / professionals, etc.). On the other hand, there are those whose financial lives are still more-or-less on track.

And it’s actually the first category that needs a helping hand. For people in the second group, it must be said that a personal loan being available at reduced rates does not mean that they should opt for it. A loan is a loan after all. And interest has to be paid on the amount being borrowed (and interest arbitrage play is best left to professionals).

COVID-19 personal loans, as of now, are only available to existing customers with good credentials (those having a salary account with stable jobs) or borrowers who have good credit history. Remember, lenders are in this for business too (though this time the heart is at the right place as well). But they still need to make profits. And the relaxation in the form of low rates (at least a few percentage points lower than regular personal loans) is genuinely helpful. But money would still not be lent to those who do not have good track records as borrowers. Banks are already going through the years-old NPA mess. They want to help but wouldn’t want another set of NPAs from the retail front.

Moratorium on repayments

As an added measure, lenders are also offering a moratorium period on these personal loans. This will provide some breathing space for borrowers, at least for a few months, during which they would expect things to normalize. But what shouldn’t be forgotten is that the moratorium isn’t an interest or EMI waiver. Interest continues to accrue and gets added to the overall repayment costs of these personal loans.

But those considering taking these loans need to understand something more.

Let’s say you are taking (or planning to take) this loan because you have liquidity issues. But after a few months, repayments will begin mandatorily. So, if you believe your liquidity issues will be resolved with certainty very soon, then taking this loan route is fine. But if you have doubts and feel that you will continue to remain under liquidity stress for some more time, then think about it:  how will you manage the additional burden of the COVID Personal Loan EMIs? Many are taking these loans hoping to get moratorium extensions. Don’t do that. Your hope cannot be a strategy and it can backfire during tough times.

If you don’t see things improving soon, then avoid taking these loans if possible.

This is the time to utilize your emergency fund if you have one. If you don’t have it and instead have investments for your long-term goals, consider using them partially if things are getting really tight for you.

Ideally, you shouldn’t be dipping into your long-term savings. But if you really have no other means or help at hand, and foresee cashflow issues, then you wouldn’t want to be in a situation where you take a loan and are further burdened by EMIs.

Taking personal loans should be your last resort. More so when you aren’t sure about the stability of your future cashflows and see a possibility of disruption getting further extended. And it goes without saying that being frugal and cutting down your non-core expenses is a no-brainer if you see a need to borrow now.

(The writer is the founder of StableInvestor.com)

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