BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai banks’ non-performing loans stood at 2.73% of total lending at the end of December 2022, down from 2.77% at the end of September, helped by debt restructuring, the central bank said on Monday.
The banking system remained strong with high levels of capital, loan-loss provisions and liquidity and was able to support the economic recovery and future lending, the Bank of Thailand said in a statement.
Bad loans are likely to increase but not sharply, while existing debt measures are sufficient to support vulnerable groups, assistant central bank governor Suwannee Jatsadasak told a news conference.
The BOT will continue to monitor the debt servicing of households, which remained fragile, and the recovery of some business groups, the BOT said.
Loans grew 2.1% in 2022, slowing from a 6.5% rise in the previous year, due in part to debt repayments by large businesses, the BOT said.
Suwannee said lending was likely to grow in line with the economy but gave no specific forecast.
Thailand’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the final quarter of 2022 from the previous three months, with the full-year annual growth at 2.6%, versus a 1.5% expansion in the previous year, which was among the slowest in Southeast Asia.
The state planning agency forecast economic growth of 2.7% to 3.7% in 2023.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Ed Davies)