People’s Bank clarifies on its NPA portfolio

Responding to the recent media reports of its non-performing assets (NPA) portfolio, state-owned People’s Bank yesterday said its NPA portfolio “compares well with the industry averages”.

It also said none of the loans discussed recently in public forums have been written off.
The bank explained that the NPAs are loans whose interest and/or principal have not been duly serviced for a stipulated time period.

“A mere classification to NPA does not constitute a write off,” it noted. “If/when a facility is classified as NPA, the bank commences its due process to recover, which includes actions such as follow up, negotiations, auctioning and litigations.

A write off is undertaken only if and after every other avenue for recovery is fully exhausted,” the bank said.
People’s Bank also clarified that its current NPA portfolio consists of “those originating/having been classified during a period of over two decades”.