The National Petroleum Authority, Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors and Legacy Bonds have met to finetune the road map towards the implementation of the Credit Practice in Trade (CREPT). CREPT is a credit risk rating mechanism aimed at addressing the trade credit risk within the petroleum downstream sector of Ghana.
LBL requested regulatory clearance and adoption for the implementation of CREPT in 2018 having procured the Bank of Ghana’s blessing in 2017.
The Chairman, Alhassan Tampuli lamented the non-cooperation from Petroleum Service Providers (PSPs) with regards to the provision of information which he added was a major problem for the authority. Mr. Tampuli lauded the CREPT model as a viable solution.
LBL proposed that CREPT be included in the requirements of PSPs by the NPA, in the renewal of licenses. It also suggested the NPA applies the necessary legal framework available to successfully implement CREPT. Legacy Bonds requested the regulator to bring all the various parties on board to convey sanity into the BDC sector for the benefit of the BDCs, banks and regulators. It was also suggested there be sanctions applicable for any non-compliance.
As it stands all stakeholders agree that having a rating agency in the industry would be a big step towards streamlining operations and thwarting the risk to sustaining the supply of petroleum products to the entire industry.
The Chairman expressed satisfaction with the proposal to NPA made by LBL and assured that the NPA’s readiness to help provide a conducive and enduring environment for the industry. He appealed to the CBOD to encourage the BDCs to cooperate with the NPA in order to maintain sanity in the industry.
NPA and LBL were tasked with mapping out the roadmap towards the implementation of CREPT with a timeframe of 2 weeks to complete its work.