CBN Releases Guidelines To Check Bad Loans

Worried by the growing trend of bad loans within the banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria has released operational guidelines on the Global Service Instructions aimed at addressing the ugly situation.

Speaking on behalf of the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, of the CBN, Chibuzo Efobi, said that this initiative was birthed after extensive investigation of the state of bad and non-performing loans in the banking system. He believes that it will help address the recurring instances of willful loan defaults in the industry.

Efobi said that one of the underlying benefits of this new guideline is that it will help enhance the establishment of a "watch list," the identification of notorious loan defaulters, and also enable loan recovery from all eligible and funded accounts in the industry.

He also stated that the guidelines will improve credit payment culture and help to reduce the rising rate of non-performing loans in the Nigerian banking system.

"Consequently, please be informed that the frequency of recovery attempts via the GSI platform has been amended from a specific number to a continuous and unrestricted number," he said.

Expressing his thoughts further, Efobi said that the program will be a game-changer in the industry.

He acknowledged that the GSI automated loan recovery feature will be applicable to all loans in the industry and will remain perpetually in place throughout the life of the loan, or until it is fully repaid.

He advised members of the general public to check the CBN website for perusal and understanding of the guidelines.