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BGL BNP Paribas, part of the BNP Paribas banking group, said it suspended repayments on thousands of loans to help Luxembourg customers cope with the covid-19 cash crunch. Library picture: A BGL BNP Paribas branch in Luxembourg City is seen in February 2020. Photo credit: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne 

“Over the past few months, the bank has granted a total of 5,275 moratoriums for operations in Luxembourg in order to help its clients with looming cashflow issues,” the bank said on 25 September.

In addition, the bank issued €206m in credit supported by the Office du Ducroire Luxembourg (the country’s export credit agency) and €22.6m in government-backed loans.

The disclosure was part of the bank’s financial announcement for the January to June 2020 period. BGL BNP Paribas posted a net profit of €199.5m (a rise of 9% compared to the first half of 2019) on net banking income of €792.6m (up 5%). The bank said its balance sheet stood at €55.7bn as of 30 June 2019, 2% lower than the previous year.

BGL BNP Paribas is the grand duchy’s second largest universal bank, according to TheBanks.eu, a data website. Statec, the national statistics bureau, said it is the largest employer in the financial sector and the country’s 6th largest employer overall.