New loan commitments reach record high
By Cameron Micallef
04 May 2021
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1 minute read
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Record-low interest rates are leading to record-high new loan commitments as investors and first home buyers flood the market, official figures have revealed.
The latest new loan commitment data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that new loan commitments rose by 5.5 per cent in March 2021, hitting a record high of $30.2 billion.
Lending to investors accounted for more than half of the March rise in housing loan commitments.
The value of new loan commitments for investor housing rose 12.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in March 2021 (seasonally adjusted), 54.3 per cent higher than in March 2020.
Amro economist Diana del Rosario (pic) said in a briefing that Malaysia “clearly needs to restore fiscal buffers” once the economic recovery is achieved.
PETALING JAYA: Amid Malaysia’s burgeoning debt levels as the government resorts to borrowings to save the economy, the revival of the goods and services tax (GST) is seen as a much-needed lifeline for the country’s debt dilemma.
Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) said that the government’s aim to bring down the debt ratio to 55% of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2023 would be challenging to achieve under baseline assumptions.
However, with the reintroduction of GST, the government debt ratio could be lowered substantially as revenue base widens and the pace of fiscal consolidation is accelerated.