Bank loans expand 13.9% in Q1
The Thai banking industry showed business improvement in March, which pushed the quarterly loan extension by 13.9 per cent from the same period last year, according to Bank of Thailand. Last year's loan extension expanded 14.8 per cent, according to th
In the first quarter, business loan extension, accounting for 71 per cent of total, expanded by 13.2 per cent which is lower compared to 14.8 per cent in the same period last year. It turned out that while large corporations' loan demand declined, SMEs' loan demand expanded by 14.8 per cent from 14 per cent in the corresponding periods.
Property loans, accounting for 29 per cent of total, expanded by 15.7 per cent. This showed a continued increase from 15.4 per cent in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the deposit base was widened by only 9.9 per cent compared to 13 per cent in the same period last year. This resulted in tight liquidity, as the loan-to-deposit ratio increased from 89.9 per cent at end-2011 to 90.2 per cent in March.
The Bank of Thailand reasoned that deposit growth slowed down as banks delayed the issuance of bill of exchange, which before carried a price advantage. Now, B/E is counted as part of deposit, on which banks' contribution to the Financial Institutions Development Fund is calculated.
The banking sector's non-performing loans as of March stood at Bt270 billion, up by Bt4.6 billion from the end of last year. Still, thanks to an increase in loan extension, the NPLs accounted for only 2.6 per cent of total loans, from 2.7 per cent at the end of last year.
