The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, has announced that the central bank will soon issue a comprehensive directive aimed at addressing persistently high levels of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) across the country’s regulated financial institutions.
Speaking at a post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting with Chief Executive Officers of banks, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, Dr. Asiama noted that the upcoming measures are designed to restore credit discipline, enhance transparency, and promote financial sector resilience.
“This is part of our broader agenda to restore asset quality, promote sound lending practices, and safeguard the resilience of Ghana’s financial system,” he stated.
According to Dr. Asiama, the directive will include several critical interventions:
-
Mandatory write-offs of fully provisioned loans deemed unrecoverable, excluding related-party exposures.
-
A cap on NPL ratios at 10% of gross loans by December 2026.
-
Stricter restructuring rules, require evidence of sustained repayments before a loan can be reclassified as performing.
-
Enforcement of timely collateral recovery, especially for long-overdue loans.
-
Strengthened credit risk governance, with banks required to demonstrate the effectiveness of their frameworks.
-
Enhanced NPL reporting and disclosure, including monthly submissions, and improved public transparency.
-
Restrictions on further lending to strategic or wilful defaulters, with their identities shared among financial sector regulators.
Notably, Dr. Asiama added that banks will be required to disclose blacklisted wilful defaulters in their audited financial statements, along with sectoral breakdowns of NPL exposures. This, he said, would provide an added layer of transparency for regulators and investors alike.
“Activate all means to bring Ofori-Atta back to Ghana” – Adams Sukparu urges OSP
