MONROVIA–The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) begins a three-day stakeholders conference on non-performing loans (NPLs) today in Monrovia, with President Joseph Boakai expected to officially open the first national gathering of its kind with a keynote statement.
The NPLs comes at the time the CBL faces enormous challenges to deal with rising non-performing crisis in a way it threatens economic growth and investor confidence in the banking sector.
It is to address one of the most significant structural challenges facing Liberia’s financial sector, and will bring together the nation’s foremost stakeholders in banking, finance, law, and development.
Liberia’s banking sector continues to face elevated levels of non-performing loans.
The NPL ratio stood at approximately 19.1 percent at end of 2024, nearly double the Central Bank’s regulatory threshold, with three banks accounting for more than half of the sector’s NPL stock.
While the ratio declined to about 12.9 percent in 2025, much of the improvement resulted from loan write-offs and restructurings rather than sustainable recovery.
The CBL’s diagnostic work, supported by findings from The World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), identified key drivers of the problem, including weak credit underwriting standards, gaps in credit information infrastructure, slow debt recovery and insolvency processes, governance weaknesses, and the absence of a market for distressed assets.
CBL said the objectives of the NPLs conference is to establish a shared understanding of the causes and consequences of NPLs in Liberia, identify reforms needed in banking supervision, credit infrastructure, insolvency, and debt recovery.
Promote digital finance, financial inclusion, and responsible lending practices.
Giving some highlights on the conference Tuesday, Information Minister Jerolinmek Matthew Piah said the upcoming conference is part of ongoing efforts to address the challenge of non-performing loans in Liberia’s financial sector.
According to Minister Piah, the three-day conference is expected to bring together senior government officials, banking and financial-sector leaders, private-sector representatives and international specialists to develop practical and sustainable solutions to the country’s non-performing loans challenge.
He the government of Liberia is organizing the conference through the CBL, in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the World Bank.
Minister Piah explained that non-performing loans have become more than a balance-sheet problem for commercial banks, as they tie up financial resources that could otherwise be used to provide new credit to productive businesses.
He noted that high levels of non-performing loans can also reduce the liquidity available for productive lending and make financial institutions more cautious when extending credit to businesses.
According to the Minister, the situation could constrain private-sector investment, entrepreneurship and employment creation, making the resolution of non-performing loans an issue of broader national economic importance.
The conference is expected to provide a platform for stakeholders to examine the challenges associated with non-performing loans and identify practical measures to strengthen Liberia’s financial sector and support economic growth.
About The Author
