No rush to upgrade banks

Business sentiment, for one, is still feeble with loan growth declining to 3.7% y-o-y in August, from the 4.7% y-o-y growth achieved in July as working capital loan growth weakened. While the approval rate has risen, loan approval remains weak, contracting 14.2% y-o-y in that month

PETALING JAYA: Lending by banks has stabilised following the reopening of the economy and the banking system’s loan growth has remained steady in August at 4.4% year-on-year (y-o-y).

By segment, household loan growth inched up to 4.8% y-o-y, driven by higher auto loans due to the sales and services tax exemption from June 15 to Dec 21. As for loan approval, the rate improved to 43% from 39% in July, but this came on the back of lower loan applications.