“Banks do not actively gather customer deposits just to park them at the central bank as a business strategy,” said Willie Tanoto, a director in Fitch Ratings’ financial institutions team. Indian banks by contrast are trying to keep up with a decade-high demand for loans by hoovering up deposits. Local lenders meanwhile have signaled a softer outlook for loan growth amid global economic uncertainty.Įlsewhere in the region, Japan banks are sitting on trillions of dollars of surplus liquidity, which have pushed them to seek higher-yielding investments though some have turned cautious lately.
The liquidity surplus underscores how Singapore has been a beneficiary as Asia’s wealthy shift their money to a perceived safe haven, even as customers in the city-state have flocked to lock in high interest rates on fixed deposits. Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta said during an analyst call that the bank had lent the Monetary Authority of Singapore S$30 billion ($22.3 billion) as it is “not finding enough opportunities to put the money to work.” The issue was highlighted in May when DBS Group Holdings Ltd. The city-state’s central bank is one avenue.
(Bloomberg) - Singapore banks are flushed with deposits with few options to deploy them amid a tepid lending environment.
