Commercials banks will now be required to disclose blacklisted willful defaulters in their audited financial statements, along with sectoral breakdowns of non-performing loans (NPLs) exposures.

The move is part of measures instituted by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) as an additional layer to ensure transparency to sharpen both regulatory and systemic credit risks.

“Commercial banks are also required to restrict further credit to strategic or willful defaulters and share their identities with key financial sector oversight bodies”, Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr.  Johnson Asiama disclosed in meeting with Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of commercial banks at the Bank Square in Accra.

The meeting was part of the Bank of Ghana’s post Monetary Policy Committee engagements with critical stakeholders in the country.

Checking high NPLs of commercial banks

Addressing the meeting, Dr. Asiama also announced that commercial banks will now be required to Cap Non-Performing Loan Ratios at 10 percent of Gross Loans by December 2026.

He added that banks are expected to “tighten restructuring rules, requiring sustained repayment before reclassification.”

He directed banks to enhance Non-Performing Loans reporting and disclosure, with monthly submissions and public transparency.

Dr. Asiama explained that “these actions are part of our broader agenda to restore asset quality, promote sound lending practices, and safeguard the resilience of Ghana’s financial system”.

Digital lending measures

Dr. Asiama revealed that the Bank of Ghana is in the final stages of “finalizing comprehensive digital lending guidelines, which will be issued by August 2025”

He noted that the Bank of Ghana is worried about how many Ghanaians are being lured by online lending platform to make bold promises, “only to turn around and trap them in cycles of hidden fees, harassment, or worse”.

“As a regulator, we can not allow this go on, hence the need to come up with these new set of regulatory measures. These measures will bring clear, enforceable standards to both bank-led and non-bank digital lending models,” he said.

The new rules, according to the Dr. Asiama will target

• Licensing and authorization,
• Disclosure and interest rate transparency,
• Data protection and customer privacy, and
• Ethical recovery and collection practices.

Dr. Asiama advised the commercial banks active in digital lending, whether directly or through third parties, to review their models and prepare for compliance.

Strengthening Governance and Decision making among commercial banks

He announced that the Bank of Ghana will soon issue a directive to reinforce local accountability and board independence in foreign-owned banks operating in Ghana.

This measure, according to him, will deal with growing concern of outsourcing of major credit and risk decisions to offshore principals, who are not subject to Ghana’s regulatory oversight.

“These decisions are often passed down to Ghanaian boards for formal ratification, giving the appearance of local governance, when in fact, core decisions have already been made externally,” the Governor observed.

Dr. Asiama warned that Ghana-based boards must not serve as rubber stamps for instructions issued from offshore.

“This undermines the very basis of effective governance and creates unacceptable regulatory blind spots”, he said.