Cambodia’s retail credit crosses $15B
Cambodia’s retail credit crosses $15B
Retail loan balance in Cambodia continued to rise as the country saw a total of more than $15 billion outstanding credit loan balance by the third quarter of 2024, a sign that retail credit performance expanded for both the number of loan accounts and loan balance, according to a report from the Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC) recently.
“The demand for retail credit increased in terms of the number of applications and amount disbursed, and retail credit performance was also positive in both number of loan accounts and loan balance in the quarter,” said Oeur Sothearoath, CEO of CBC.
He added that loan quality dropped with an increase in 30+ DPD ratio of 6.22 percent in the second quarter of 2024 to 6.35 percent in the third quarter.
Mar Amara, Executive Vice President and Group Chief Financial Officer at ACLEDA Bank Plc, told Khmer Times that, for her bank, retail loan or personal loan for 2023 and 2024 increased by less than 10 percent and the risk of personal loans was also minimal as retail loan grew around 12 percent annual average. However, for 2024, this type of loan is better than 2023, but compared to the last 30 years, 2023 and 2024 have the lowest growth because loan users may face more difficulties or some businesses do not dare to use loans during this situation, referring to global economic uncertainty.
“There are also concerns about business risks, so many customers prefer deposits as they are safer. And we see that deposits have increased a lot lately. However, business can be profitable when the business owner has a clear goal and plan,” Amara said.
In the current situation, it is difficult for all of us due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the Covid 19 crisis and the uncertainty of the world economy, she said, adding that, it also depends on the business, some new businesses are emerging, such as online businesses are booming and theses businesses also boost personal loans.
The CBCs report said that, in the third quarter of 2024, the number of consumers attempting to acquire credit in three different forms – personal finance, credit card, or mortgage.
The retail credit application increased in overall with the rate of 37 percent. The growth in personal finance applications was 39 percent with the largest expansion of 47.2 percent in the Plain region. There was an increase for credit card applications of 74 percent, with the largest increase of 216 percent in Plateau region. Mortgage applications increased by one percent, with the increase of four percent in Plain region.
The percentage change in the loan amounts sought through credit application increased by two percent from the previous quarter of a five percent decline. The changes were due to credit card applications (83 percent up), personal finance application (two percent), while mortgage credit applications droped by two percent.
As of September 2024, the number of retail loan accounts increased by 5.60 percent from the previous quarter, resulting in 2.02 million total number of loan accounts throughout the country.
