{"id":89731,"date":"2025-08-14T08:50:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T08:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89731"},"modified":"2025-08-14T08:50:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T08:50:26","slug":"wilful-loan-defaulters-face-5-year-credit-ban-under-new-bog-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89731","title":{"rendered":"Wilful loan defaulters face 5-year credit ban under new BoG rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wilful loan defaulters could soon face a five-year ban from accessing credit from any regulated financial institution in Ghana.<\/p>\n

The new Bank of Ghana (BoG) directive also requires commercial banks and other regulated lenders to publish the names of such defaulters twice a year, on June 30 and December 31, in at least two national daily newspapers and on their websites in a prescribed format.<\/p>\n

These measures form part of BoG\u2019s latest regulatory actions to curb rising non-performing loans (NPLs) and reduce risks to the profitability, liquidity, and solvency of the banking sector. <\/p>\n

The central bank has already notified all regulated financial institutions of the directives and published explanatory notes for the public.<\/p>\n

Defining Wilful Loan Default<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under the new rules, a borrower is deemed a wilful defaulter if they fail to repay a loan despite having the capacity to do so, divert loan funds for other purposes, or secure a loan through falsified collateral or fraudulent documentation.<\/p>\n

Credit Access Restrictions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The directives bar regulated financial institutions from granting fresh loans to defaulters from the date the BoG approves a loan write-off. <\/p>\n

The prohibition period will be twice the length of time between the write-off approval and the full settlement of the debt.<\/p>\n

Borrowers listed as wilful defaulters on two or more occasions within ten years will face a mandatory five-year ban, or longer if the calculated prohibition period exceeds that duration.<\/p>\n

The restrictions also target directors of companies found to have engaged in fund diversion, misrepresentation, falsified accounts, or fraudulent transactions.<\/p>\n

Path to Credit Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n

A wilful defaulter may regain access to credit upon fully repaying all written-off loans and fees, and if the lender is satisfied with the borrower\u2019s ability and willingness to meet future repayment obligations.<\/p>\n

Prudential Limits on NPLs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The BoG is also enforcing stricter prudential limits, requiring banks and other financial institutions to keep their NPL ratio at or below 10% by the end of 2026. <\/p>\n

Microfinance institutions must maintain their existing limit of 5%.<\/p>\n

From January 1, 2027, institutions exceeding these limits will be barred from paying dividends, issuing bonuses, or expanding their loan portfolios.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"WilfulWilful loan defaulters could soon face a five-year ban from accessing credit from any regulated financial institution in Ghana.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1904,6539,1978,1969,1883,10,9,6540],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-banking-and-finance","category-credit-ban","category-hp-business-1","category-hp-news-3","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-wilful-loan-defaulters"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}