Alarms raised as personal loan arrears pass P3bn

The trend has prompted a local financial advisory to urge more action by regulators, including frequent audits of lenders to ensure they are not over-burdening borrowers.

Bank of Botswana numbers unveiled this week show that of the P3.1 billion owed in arrears by individuals to commercial banks as at December 2020, about P1.4 billion was less than 180 days old, while P765 million was more than 180 days old. Another P998 million was classified as ‘specific provisions’ the worst category of arrears among banks.