Banks in Ghana are still grappling with customers not repaying loans on time, or in some cases defaulting altogether, with a recent report from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) affirming that the challenge persists.

This was deduced after the central bank published its Domestic Money Banks (DMBs) Income Statement, i.e., the annual financial report that the BoG publishes to show how Ghana’s commercial banks performed over the year.

According to the statement, Banks in Ghana wrote off GH¢1.64 billion in 2025, marking a reduction of 57.1% in 2024.

Given the history of the banking sector’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL), the banks made a provision of GH¢3.82 billion as bad debt in 2024. The total provision was made for loan losses, depreciation & others.

According to the January 2026 Banking Developments Report, the asset quality risks of banks remained elevated in December 2025, although the industry’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio declined to 18.9% in December 2025, from 21.8% in December 2024.

Similarly, the NPL ratio adjusted for the fully provisioned loan loss category declined from 8.5% to 5.0% during the same comparative period.

The NPL stock, however, increased by 0.8% to GH¢21.0 billion in December 2025 compared with a growth of 31.4% recorded in December 2024.

A decomposition of the NPLs showed that the private sector emerged as the leading contributor, due to its dominant share of total credit. The statement also noted that the proportion of NPLs attributable to the private sector increased to 97.5% in December 2025, from 96.2% in December 2024, marking a 1.35

% while that of the public sector declined to 2.5%, from 3.8% a year earlier.

Amid the private sector’s poor performance in paying back its loans, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), in its statement, indicated that there has been an improvement in the percentage of bad loans in the banking industry year-on-year.

Accordingly, the NPL ratios in the construction and agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors increased from 29.8% and 38.0% to 30.7% and 46.3%, respectively. All other sectors recorded improvements in asset quality during the review period.

Meanwhile, in August 2025, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) announced a ‘name and shame’ approach to promote responsible borrowing among wilful loan defaulters in a new directive. The financial institution announced this in a formal directive issued to all regulated financial institutions on August 14.

In the new directive, the Bank of Ghana instructed all regulated financial institutions to publish the names of individuals who deliberately refuse to repay loans (wilful loan defaulters), despite having the means, twice a year in national newspapers and on their websites.

“All banks and other regulated lenders will be required to publish the names of such defaulters twice a year, on June 30 and December 31, in at least two national newspapers and on their official websites, using a format provided by the BoG.”

These measures form part of BoG’s latest regulatory actions to curb rising non-performing loans (NPLs) and reduce risks to the profitability, liquidity, and solvency of the banking sector. The central bank has already notified all regulated financial institutions of the directives and published explanatory notes for the public.

Also, not only will the names of the defaulters be published, but they will also be barred from getting any loans from any accredited financial institution for up to about half a decade.

“People in Ghana who deliberately refuse to repay loans... could soon be banned from borrowing from any licensed bank or financial institution for up to five years.” Borrowers who default on more than two occasions will face a five-year credit ban.

“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,” it added. The restrictions also target directors of companies found to have engaged in fund diversion, misrepresentation, falsified accounts, or fraudulent transactions.

“Directors of companies that are wilful defaulters, where RFIs have identified siphoning/diversion of funds, misrepresentation, falsification of accounts, and fraudulent transactions with the directors’ consent or connivance, shall also be deemed wilful defaulters and prohibited from accessing credit for the same period as the defaulting company,” it said.

Who is a wilful defaulter

According to the Bank of Ghana, “A wilful defaulter is defined as a borrower who deliberately breaks loan agreements... or obtains it through fake documents or false collateral.”

According to the new directive, the BoG outlined the conditions under which an action will be classified as wilful default. BoG explained that a wilful default would be deemed to have occurred if any of the following events were noted:

i. The borrower has defaulted on their repayment obligations to the RFI even when they have the capacity to honour the said obligation;

ii. The borrower has defaulted on their repayment obligations to the RFI and has siphoned or diverted the funds for other purposes;

iii. The borrower has defaulted on their repayment obligations to the RFI and has provided falsified or misrepresented collateral or any other documentation in support of the loan application, thereby securing the facility through fraudulent means;

iv. The borrower has defaulted on their repayment obligations to two (2) or more RFIs concurrently. However, the borrower may be exempted as a wilful defaulter if evidence is provided to the RFI that their inability to meet repayment obligations is due to loss of employment, force majeure, or disability.

v. The borrower has defaulted on their repayment obligations and has relocated without the RFI’s knowledge of the new address; or

vi. The borrower has defaulted on their repayment obligations to the RFI and has, without the RFI’s knowledge or consent, disposed of or removed the movable or immovable assets pledged as security for the facility.