KUALA LUMPUR (April 30): Malaysia’s loan growth picked up in March as lending to both consumers and businesses expanded faster, official data on Tuesday showed.

Credit to the private non-financial sector rose 5.2% year-on-year, a tad faster than the 5.1% increase recorded in February, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said in its monthly highlights report for March 2024. Outstanding loans were up 5.7% while outstanding bonds were 3.2% higher.

Outstanding business loan growth edged up to 4.9% in March compared to 4.8% in February, according to BNM, attributable to higher investment-related loan growth which offset moderate growth in working capital loans.

As for households, outstanding loan growth was slightly faster at 6.2% in March compared to 6.1% in February, amid stable loan growth across key purposes including house and car purchases.

The banking system’s asset quality remained sound with overall gross impaired loans largely stable at 1.6%. "Loan loss coverage ratio remains at a prudent level” of 120.9% of impaired loans with total provisions accounting for 1.5% of total loans, BNM said.

Banks' capital position was also strong to withstand potential shock and support credit intermediation growth in the economy with excess capital buffers of RM139.5 billion as of the reporting date, BNM added. 
 

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