Monday, 29 Mar 2021 11:36 AM MYTFitch Ratings Singapore director Willie Tanoto said the continued withdrawal of debt relief will cause non-performing loan levels to reach an expected 2.6 per cent by the end of 2021.— Bernama picKUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — Malaysian banks will not see normal profit levels return in 2021 despite lower credit costs compared to other Asia Pacific nations, said Fitch Ratings.
“Visibility into banks’ asset quality continues to be clouded by repayment assistance programmes and fiscal relief; we estimate total loans under repayment deferral to account for 11 per cent of the six major banks’ portfolios as of February 2021. However, clarity should gradually improve as most of these programmes roll off in the coming months,” it said.
As the unemployment rate and Covid-19 cases rose since September 2020, Fitch Ratings said economic uncertainty was now higher.