Banking and financial services

Economists have cautioned that cutting spending could impact Laos’ economic growth, so the government needs to further create favourable conditions to strengthen the private sector. According to the government’s recent report, investment by domestic and foreign businesses represented more than half the entire investment driving ...

While financial inclusion is a top priority for emerging economies, new research suggests more stringent enforcement of anti-money regulations in recent years has resulted in major Western banks disconnecting from these regions, leaving local businesses without access to the international financial system. Correspondent banking relationships, ...

While most of the Japanese people are enjoying five days of Golden Week holidays, areas around Pacifico Yokohama have been busy with people from around the world on business. More than 3000 people from across the globe have been busy attending seminars and meetings on ...

The Bank of Thailand and the Bank of Japan have signed an agreement to govern the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA), enabling both countries to exchange their currencies. The facility under the arrangement amounts to US$3 billion (102.4 billion baht), said Chantavarn Sucharitakul, assistant governor, corporate ...

The Asian Development Bank set out its strategy for the next decade during the launch of its 50th annual meeting in Japan over the weekend, while also recognising the challenges that remain for the 300 million people still living in poverty in Asia. Addressing the ...

Acleda Bank’s foreign operations in Laos and Myanmar performed well during the first quarter of 2017 while recording strong net profits last year, leading the bank to seek further regional expansion, according to a senior executive. Acleda has 41 commercial branches in Laos and six MFI ...

Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank, the only state-owned bank in the agriculture sector, was under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation. But from now on, the institution has been relocated to the Ministry of Planning and Finance which will make loan processes more efficient, according ...

Thailand’s four largest banks by assets saw their combined net profits rise for the third consecutive quarter in January to March, helped by lower provisioning for future defaults. Although this is a sign that lenders foresee an improvement in Thailand’s long sluggish economy, some analysts ...

World Bank and government representatives recently signed an agreement for a US$100 million (K134.9 billion) World Bank loan to the Myanmar Financial Development Project in mid-April. The representatives signed the loan for SDR71.700 million, which equals US$100 million, from the World Bank with low interest. Ulrich ...

Ten banks have announced that their combined net profit in the first quarter of this year was Bt55.71 billion, up 8 per cent from the same period of last year, thanks to increases on both interest and non-interest income. Most of their non-performing-loan ratios in ...