Bank profits at risk, IMF says

'Too much money’ replaces too little as key risk for local banks.

ASHORTAGE of “attractive” lending opportunities is posing profitability risks for the Kingdom’s banks given a growing deposit base and high interest rates, the International Monetary Fund said last week.

The international financial organisation made the warning Wednesday as it presented its findings from two weeks of discussions with government ministers and senior officials on economic and financial developments in Cambodia.

David Cowen, the deputy division chief in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, told reporters that “healthy deposit growth” meant there was “ample liquidity” in the banking system, but that high rates on deposits could dent profitability given a slowdown in new lending. Click to read more...