Thai banks report slowdown in volume of problem loans
2023.02.20 02:31
Thai banks report slowdown in volume of problem loans
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – The central bank reported on Monday that debt restructuring had reduced Thai banks’ non-performing loans to 2.73% of total lending at the end of December 2022, from 2.77 percent at the end of September.
The Bank of Thailand stated in a statement that the banking system was able to support the economic recovery and future lending with high levels of capital, loan-loss provisions, and liquidity.
Assistant central bank governor Suwannee Jatsadasak stated at a news conference that existing debt measures are sufficient to support vulnerable groups, so bad loans are likely to rise, but not significantly.
According to the BOT, it will continue to monitor the recovery of some business groups and the debt servicing of households, which remained fragile.
According to the BOT, debt repayments by large businesses contributed in part to the 2.1% increase in loans in 2022, a slowdown from the 6.5% increase the previous year.
Suwannee said that lending would probably grow at the same rate as the economy, but he didn’t say how much.
The economy of Thailand unexpectedly contracted from the previous three months in the final quarter of 2022, with a full-year annual growth rate of 2.6%, as opposed to a 1.5% expansion in the previous year, which was one of the slowest in Southeast Asia.
In 2023, the state planning agency anticipates economic expansion of 2.7% to 3.7%.
