Singapore banks set tone for ASEAN peers in reducing bad debts

Lenders' profits improve as COVID recovery reduces nonperforming loans

20210507 UOB DBS OCBC

Singapore banks buck fears that ASEAN lenders are being flooded by pools of nonperforming loans. (Photo by Shinya Sawai)

DYLAN LOH, Nikkei staff writer

SINGAPORE -- Singapore lenders DBS Group Holdings and United Overseas Bank are pushing back bad debts after a difficult, COVID-pressured 2020, setting the tone for their regional peers in recovering from the pandemic's ill effects.

The virus crisis has allowed pools of nonperforming loans to accumulate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as consumers and businesses struggle with poor economic conditions and face growing hardships in paying back their debts.

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