MONROVIA – 20 March 2023: The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) warns all delinquent borrowers of commercial banks that failure to regularize their indebtedness by the end of March 2023 will lead to grave consequences as provided by the regulation governing the country’s banking sector.
It can be recalled that on December 12, 2022, CBL issued a press release regarding the situation of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking system due to the non-compliance of delinquent borrowers to repay and/or restructure their indebtedness to the commercial banks.
The action of these delinquent borrowers is not only a breach of their contractual agreement with the commercial banks but also a violation of CBL’s prudential regulation and detrimental to the health and viability of the system.
While the CBL wishes to commend non-compliant delinquent borrowers who have taken steps to regularize their obligation, the Bank would like to remind all non-compliant delinquent borrowers about the mandate of its press release dated December 12, 2022 and hereby urge all non-compliant borrowers to ensure that they regularize their indebtedness to the banking system by the end of the first quarter of this year, which is end of March 2023.
The CBL emphasizes that non-compliant delinquent borrowers failing to regularize their indebtedness within the stated timeframe will be subjected to appropriate supervisory actions in keeping with CBL’s Regulation.
As mentioned in the press release, these actions may include but not limited to restriction from accessing banking services within Liberia.
Meanwhile, all commercial banks have been mandated by the CBL through the Liberia Bankers Association (LBA) to compile and submit the list of non-compliant delinquent borrowers to the CBL before the end of March 2023.
Signed: Management of the Central Bank of Liberia