Business / Local
Banking sector deposits maintain upward trajectory
07 Dec 2017 at 15:30hrs | Views
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has said the banking sector deposits has maintained an upward trajectory, increasing by 17.1%, from US$6.51 billion as at end December 2016, to US$7.62 billion as at end of September 2017.
Announcing the 2018 national budget the minister said however, in the challenging macro-economic operating environment, lending has remained subdued, with total banking sector loans and advances increasing only marginally, from US$3.64 billion to US$3.73 billion as at end September 2017.
"Lending to the productive sectors of the economy constituted 70% of total sector loans as at 30 September 2017. The quality of the banking sector loan book has gradually improved over the years, from a peak ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans of 20.45% in September 2014, to 8.63% as at end September 2017," he said.
"Banks have continued to strengthen their credit risk management systems, to complement the reduction of NPLs arising from the disposal of their toxic assets to ZAMCO."
Announcing the 2018 national budget the minister said however, in the challenging macro-economic operating environment, lending has remained subdued, with total banking sector loans and advances increasing only marginally, from US$3.64 billion to US$3.73 billion as at end September 2017.
"Banks have continued to strengthen their credit risk management systems, to complement the reduction of NPLs arising from the disposal of their toxic assets to ZAMCO."
Source - Byo24News
