The Central Bank of West African States has formulated new measures to deal with the shock linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Bceao informs that it “authorizes credit institutions to classify sound debts which have been the subject of a postponement of maturities due to the effects of the pandemic, in a specific account within the category of debts healthy, and not in that of bad debts. Consequently, debts whose maturities have been postponed will also be treated as sound debts in their respective categories from a prudential point of view.
On this basis, the Bank "invites credit institutions to grant companies affected by the effects of the pandemic and which request it, an extension of maturities on their loans, for a period of 3 months renewable once, without charge of interest, fees or late payment penalties".
For the warehouses affected and which have not obtained an agreement to postpone deadlines with their partner banks, the BCEAO says it has also “put in place a monitoring and facilitation system called the Covid-19 system”. This mechanism, according to the Issuing Institute, “aims to strengthen the dialogue between companies and their banking partners and to restore, if necessary, a relationship of trust, based on a common approach to finding solutions”.
“Credit institutions that have extended the maturities of their claims on companies must send the related information to the BCEAO, from the canvas made available to them in a secure space on the Central Bank's website, at www bceao.int/Covid-19.
The Bceao will assess, in conjunction with the General Secretariat of the UMOA Banking Commission, the implications of the extension of deadlines on the accounting and prudential situation of credit institutions”, specify Governor Tiémoko Meyliet Koné and his collaborators.
The latter did not stop there. In this context of the fight against the spread of Covid-19, they have also taken a series of measures to promote electronic payments.