Credit to private non-financial sector up 4.7 pct at end-Dec 2022 - BNM

In its Monthly Highlights - December 2022 report today, the central bank said credit to businesses stood higher at 3.8 per cent in December 2022 versus 3.2 per cent in the previous month.

This was driven by higher growth for both outstanding corporate bonds at 4.6 per cent in December versus November's 3.5 per cent, and outstanding business loans at 3.3 per cent in December from 3.0 per cent in the month before.

Similarly, December's outstanding household loans grew by 5.5 per cent compared to November's 5.6 per cent as growth in loan repayments outpaced that of disbursements.

BNM said that despite some moderation in outstanding loan growth for the purchase of housing and cars, growth in loan disbursements remained strong at 10.4 per cent (November: 9.1 per cent).

Meanwhile, the asset quality in the banking system remained intact in December, attributable to gross and net impaired loans ratios which remained broadly unchanged at 1.7 per cent (November: 1.8 per cent) and 1.1 per cent (November: 1.1 per cent), respectively.

"Loan loss coverage ratio (including regulatory reserves) continued to record a prudent level of 118.2 per cent of impaired loans, with total provisions accounting for 1.7 per cent of total loans," it said.

Additionally, the central bank said domestic financial conditions continued to ease, reflecting improving investors' risk sentiment.

It said that global financial conditions were mainly driven by expectations for a slower monetary policy tightening by major central banks moving forward, as inflation showed signs of peaking.

"Meanwhile, investors' risk sentiment was supported further by the earlier-than-expected reopening of China's international borders.

"Subsequently, domestic financial conditions eased, with the 10-year Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) yields declining by 4.0 basis points,'' it noted.