"Commercial bank loans are expected grow more than the 2% growth recorded last year as we start to see yield rises from long term bonds," he said. Predee Daochai, president of Kasikornbank (KBank) and also chairman of the Thai Bankers Association, said that the bank expects commercial bank loans to expand by around 4-6% this year. "In the midst of gradual economic recovery, loan growth slowed down and loan quality continued to deteriorate," he said. Bad consumer loans rose from 2.56% to 2.71% at the end of December mainly from the rise of housing NPLs. In 2016, commercial banks' profit rose 3.9% to 199 billion baht, thanks largely to their efficient cost-controls, said Mr Somboon.

Source: Bangkok Post February 09, 2017 22:46 UTC