COVID 19: Consumer Lending in Malaysia Forecast to Decline in 2020

Consumer lending in Malaysia is expected to decelerate in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data and analytics company, GlobalData. Data from GlobalData’s Global Retail Banking Analytics revealed that growth in consumer loans are expected to slow down to 2.4% in 2020, following a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9% over 2015-2019,

The deceleration is attributed to the downturn of the Malaysian economy amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, which has impacted consumer lending. Shivani Gupta, Senior Banking and Payment Analyst at GlobalData, stated that a decline in new loan applications was expected as consumers become wary of taking on additional liabilities due to the uncertain economic conditio...