Bank of Kigali (BK), one of the country’s leading banks will cut its Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) portfolio from 7.2 percent last year to 5 percent this year.

BK’s Chief Operations Officer (COO), Lawson Naibo said the bank will achieve this by improving the Credit Risk Management (CRM) department.

According to the Bank’s financial statement as of 31st December 2009, NPLs stood at Rwf2.8 billion as compared to Rwf5.3 billion in 2008.

"We have already started training  people working in the CRM department on how they can improve and make a thorough follow-up on the bad debts,” Naibo said.

He also explained that the bank has already started working closely with the bad debtors who are willing to pay and advise them on how they can pay off their debts.

"We are giving them adequate time to learn and for those who are not willing to pay, we are dealing with them legally and we are speeding up the court procedures,” he said.

The COO explained that if the bank meets its target this year it will make more profits and increase the customer’s loyalty.

According to the banks’s financial statement, BK managed to registered Rwf5.2 bn profit last year compared Rwf5.6 bn the previous year (2008).

However, the earnings fell by 7 percent, are due  to the global financial crisis.

BK remained the most profitable commercial bank in the country accounting for 70 percent of the net profit accumulated by all commercial banks operating in Rwanda.

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