Affin: We follow guidelines when providing loans

KUALA LUMPUR: Amid talk that the banks in Malaysia have become overly conservative in their lending in spite registering strong growth in profits, Affin Bank Bhd said it follows the rules when lending out to the population.

Its group CEO Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil told reporters after the bank’s AGM that lending was mostly guided by the responsible lending guidelines that was formulated some years back.

“In our case we have been growing our mortgage loans. I can’t comment on other banks. But we follow the rules as far as this is concerned, such as Bank Negara’s lending guidelines. We are within those rules, how will compete will depend on efficiency,” Kamarul said.

“These growth in mortgages are really to the segments where the central bank and the government has been mentioning about: the affordable segment. I think we have to ensure borrowers don’t overleverage or overgear themselves,” he added.