Resolving non-performance loans in sub-Sahara Africa in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis

By:

Eyraud Luc

Contributor(s):

Material type: Text

TextSeries: International Monetary Fund. African Department (Series)Publication details: Washington DC, USA IMF Publication Services c. 2021Description: x, illus; 74pISBN:

987-1513576510

Subject(s):

LOC classification:

LCC HG1642.A357 E97 2021

Summary: Compared to other regions, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has historically recorded high levels of nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the banking sector. NPL ratios have exceeded 10 percent on average since the mid-2010s. They have been particularly elevated in commodity producers and fragile states. The structurally high level of NPLs in SSA can be explained by a range of factors, including government arrears creating debt repayment difficulties for domestic suppliers, macroeconomic volatility, poor credit risk management practices, and a legacy of problem loans that remain unresolved or are not written off partly because of weak legal systems. Simulations conducted in this paper suggest that removing 1 dollar of NPLs from banks’ balance sheets in the region would create, on average, space for about 50 cents of new loans. Some policy measures can amplify the effectiveness of NPL resolution strategies, such as legal and regulatory reforms meant to lower the cost and duration of contract enforcement, targeted approaches that prioritize removing legacy NPLs, tax regimes that do not discourage NPL write-offs, as well as more-specific and better-designed rules for bank restructuring and resolution.

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Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
E-Books	CBN HQ Library General Stacks	Non-fiction		c. 1	Available

Prepared by an IMF staff team led by Luc Eyraud and comprised of Irina Bunda, Jehann Jack, Tarak Jardak, Rasmane Ouedraogo, Zhangrui Wang, and Torsten Wezel, (all from the IMF African Department at the time of drafting the paper), and Torsten Wezel (from the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department). The paper benefited from overall guidance from Annalisa Fed-elino. Houda Berrada and Nadia Margevich were responsible for document production. The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable comments and inputs received from Michael Brei, José Garrido, Andy Jobst, Andrew Kanye-girire, Emmanuel Kopp, Amina Lahreche, Dermot Monaghan, Alphonse Noah, Manabu Nose, Jean Portier, and other IMF colleagues.

Includes Bibliographical reference and index

Compared to other regions, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has historically recorded high levels of nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the banking sector. NPL ratios have exceeded 10 percent on average since the mid-2010s. They have been particularly elevated in commodity producers and fragile states. The structurally high level of NPLs in SSA can be explained by a range of factors, including government arrears creating debt repayment difficulties for domestic suppliers, macroeconomic volatility, poor credit risk management practices, and a legacy of problem loans that remain unresolved or are not written off partly because of weak legal systems.

Simulations conducted in this paper suggest that removing 1 dollar of NPLs from banks’ balance sheets in the region would create, on average, space for about 50 cents of new loans. Some policy measures can amplify the effectiveness of NPL resolution strategies, such as legal and regulatory reforms meant to lower the cost and duration of contract enforcement, targeted approaches that prioritize removing legacy NPLs, tax regimes that do not discourage NPL write-offs, as well as more-specific and better-designed rules for bank restructuring and resolution.

mnm, 22/12/2022

Loans

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