还款假期

A payment holiday allows a mortgage borrower to temporarily stop making monthly repayments. During this period, interest typically continues to accrue and is added to the outstanding balance. Payment holidays are offered either as a standard product feature (e.g., during the first few months of a new mortgage) or as a hardship measure during financial difficulty.

UAE banks occasionally offer payment holidays, particularly for new mortgages (1 to 3 month grace period before first payment) and during exceptional circumstances. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UAE Central Bank mandated that banks offer payment deferrals to affected borrowers. Outside of crisis periods, payment holidays are negotiated individually and are not guaranteed.

A 3-month payment holiday on a AED 2M mortgage at 5% interest adds approximately AED 25,000 in accrued interest to the loan balance. Over the remaining loan term, this can increase total interest paid by AED 40,000-60,000. Payment holidays provide short-term relief but increase long-term cost.

Payment holidays are a tool for managing short-term cash flow stress, not a free benefit. The interest that would have been paid continues to accrue on the outstanding balance during the holiday period. This increases total borrowing cost over the life of the loan, so payment holidays should only be used when genuinely necessary.

Before requesting a payment holiday, calculate the total additional interest cost and compare it to the benefit of the cash flow relief. If the cash can be deployed to generate returns that exceed the accruing interest cost, a payment holiday may be rational. If the cash simply sits idle, the payment holiday is net negative.