Bank loan applications in Malaysia drop for the seventh consecutive month

Loan approvals also contracted 5.1% in January 2017.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, loan applications contracted yet again by 8.4% YoY in Jan 2017 i.e. for the seventh consecutive month. On a 3-month moving average (3M MA) basis, applications contracted 5.6% in Jan 2017, this also being the seventh consecutive month of contraction.

Here's more from Maybank Kim Eng:

Loan approvals contracted by 5.1% YoY in Jan 2017, which was a slight reprieve from the sizeable 12.8% YoY contraction in Dec 2016. On a 3M MA basis, loan approvals contracted for the 17th consecutive month and by 7.5% YoY in Jan 2017 versus -7.6% YoY in Dec 2016.

The average loan approval rate on a 3M MA basis (total loans approved during a month divided by total loans applied) moved back lower to 44.9% in Jan 2017 from 47.1% in Dec 2016.