PETALING JAYA: Maybank Investment Bank Research has forecast 2025 loan growth for the banking sector at 5.5%, backed by a pick-up in corporate lending.
This will buffer expectation of more moderate household loan growth amid potential inflationary pressures.
Loan growth in February 2025 moderated to 5.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) from 5.7% in January 2025.
Household loan growth was stable at 6% but non-household loan growth slowed to 4.1% from 5.1% in January 2025.
On the non-household front, construction lending was flat from a year ago while working capital loans growth moderated to 3.6% at end-February 2025 from 5.4% as at end-January 2025.
Within the commercial property financing, lending for industrial buildings and factories continued to be robust, up 12.8% y-o-y in February.
Loans for the purchase of land expanded 12.2% while shophouse loans rose 5.4%, the research firm said in a report yesterday.
Loan applications on a three-month moving average basis moderated in February, due largely to slower construction and working capital loan applications.
