China's commercial banks posted an average non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 1.59 percent as of the end of September, the highest since the 2009 global financial crisis, an official at the country's banking regulator said late on Wednesday. The provision coverage ratio for Chinese commercial lenders also dropped to a six-year-low of 167.7 percent at end-September, compared with 247.15 percent a year earlier, said Liao Yuanyuan, deputy head of policy research bureau at the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).
China's top five lenders last week reported their slowest third-quarter profit in at least three years. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the country's biggest lender by assets, booked an NPL ratio of 1.44 percent at end-September, from 1.4 percent at end-June. China's other big state-owned lenders also reported higher NPL ratios.
China's biggest banks, including ICBC, are seeking to loosen the regulatory requirement on provisions. The CBRC's current provision requirement of minimum 150 percent is "relatively high compared with international standards", said an ICBC executive last week on an earnings call with analysts.
Comments
Comments are closed.