Banks prepared to cope

Banks should see stronger buffers for their balance sheets to guard against significant asset quality degradation.

KUALA LUMPUR: With margins expected to improve in the coming months, analysts posit that Malaysian banks may be better positioned to manage any potential degradation in asset quality even as economic recovery is affected by the ongoing lockdown.

In the first three months of 2021, PublicInvest Research noted that almost all banks have reported improvements in funding costs. As such, margins are expected to be on the uptrend in the coming quarters.