Eight banks reported N502 billion in net impairment charges in 2022, in an effort to lessen the adverse effects of Ghana’s debt crisis and other factors on their risky assets. Comparing the provisioning to the N249.75 billion recorded in 2021, there was a rise of 101.05 percent. An impairment charge typically shows a decline in the asset’s value or poorer-than-expected performance.
While the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy on the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR), set at 65%, contributed to banks increasing their lending, the majority of risk assets were impacted by the Ghanaian sovereign debt crisis and the slowdown in the global economy, which disrupted economic activity.
In addition, the World Bank and other international organizations have consistently pressed the Federal Government to end all gasoline subsidies. It was observed that some banks raised their net impairment charges significantly in the year under review, while the total provisioning by banks rose by 101.05 per cent.
Access Holdings recorded a jump of 137.7per cent in net impairment charges, from N83.2bn in 2021 to N197.79bn in 2022.GTCO posted net impairment charges of N35.94bn, showing a jump from N760m recorded in 2021, while Zenith bank announced N123.25bn net impairment charges in 2022 from N59.9bn recorded in 2021. Ecobank posted net impairment charges of N89.13bn, indicating a decline of 5.1 per cent from the 2021 figure.