CBN directs banks to publish names of delinquent borrowers from July

Following an earlier warning to chronic bank debtors in the country to pay up their debts,

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to publish the list of delinquent borrowers in the national dailies from the end of July.

The  debtors to be affected in the first instance are those whose debts have remained non-performing..

According to CBN,  the move is to halt the rising trend of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the industry and also ensure that the industry NPL ratio does not exceed the prudential limit of five per cent.

Presently, the industry NPL ratio stands at 3.3 per cent.

The Apex bank gave the directive in a letter dated April 22, 2015 and addressed to all banks and discount houses.

The letter titled: “Recovery of Delinquent Credit Facilities,” was signed by the Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins.

The  CBN said banks and discount houses are required with effect from May 1st 2015, to give the delinquent debtors three months of grace to turn their accounts from non-performing to performing status, after which their names would be published.

The delinquent debtors, for both individual and corporate accounts, are those whose accounts have been classified lost and the names include the persons, entities, directors, subsidiaries and other related parties.

The banking sector regulator said those affected would be banned from participating in the Nigerian foreign exchange market and also from participating in the Nigerian government securities market.

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