Philippines expects pandemic to cause loan defaults, but not as bad as 1997 crisis

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno. - Bloomberg

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN): Soured loans in the local financial system will rise over the near term due to the coronavirus pandemic-induced recession, but the country’s top banking regulator said the expected increase in borrower defaults would be nowhere near the levels seen during the 1997 East Asian financial crisis.

In an online press briefing, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said the local banking system was more than amply provisioned with buffers in the unlikely event that bad loans hit worst-case assumptions.