By Sola Alabadan – Lagos
The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks and discount house to publish the list of delinquent debtors that remain non-performing in at least three national daily newspapers quarterly with effect from May 1st 2015.
Issuing this directive in a letter to all Banks and Discount houses on Thursday, Director of Banking Supervision, Mrs. ‘Tokunbo Martins, informed that the list must also be sent to the CBN as soon as the publication is made.
The delinquent debtors are those whose accounts have been classified lost and include the persons, entities, directors, subsidiaries and other related parties.
In the circular titled “Recovery of Delinquent Credit Facilities”, the CBN expressed worries at the rising trend of non-performing loans (NPL) in the industry.
Therefore, the apex bank stated that “In order to ensure that the industry NPL ratio does not exceed the prudential limit of 5 percent, and to improve the credit culture in the banking industry, banks and discount houses are directed to observe prudent credit underwriting and monitoring standards.”
Source : Independent