KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — RHB Bank Bhd expects no further cut in the overnight policy rate (OPR) this year, following the staggered re-opening of various sectors in the country to enable the country to recover at a faster pace.
Group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said the optimism is based on the returning of financial assistance sought by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), albeit still below the pre-Covid period.
“We still see the numbers bouncing back from the low in April and May this year.. therefore, we see no reason to reduce the OPR for now.
“Even in certain segments of our businesses, especially in the retail part, we do see an improvement in terms of applications coming in, and we believe that it has also been contributed by the government incentives in the home ownership fund, as well as (incentives) for the purchase of auto vehicles,” he told reporters via the bank’s first virtual press conference on RHB’s second quarter and first half financial results announcement.
He said if there is any OPR cut, it would largely depend on the trajectory of the economic recovery.
“In our economic forecast, our call is that in the third quarter, the gross domestic product (GDP) year-on-year will contract by a much smaller number, and we also expect by the fourth quarter, there will be some positive GDP growth even though it is small,” he said.
Since January this year, BNM has reduced OPRs by 125 basis points to 1.75 per cent, the lowest after being set 16 years ago.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the end of the moratorium at end-September, RHB had mobilised a “Credit War Room”, setting up credit strategy in response to the pandemic and coordinated efforts to ensure consistent and structured response across the group.
He said the bank also ensured adequate deployment of resources, effective customer engagements and availability of appropriate escalation channels when required.
“The bank will provide targeted payment assistance to our customers who have difficulty paying their instalment post moratorium period.
“Efforts have been further intensified to reach out to customers through various communications channels: phone calls, physical visits, SMS blasts, SME Helpdesk, email and electronic direct mailers, social media blasts and TV,” he said.
He said RHB has provided targeted payment assistance for more than 7,000 accounts amounting RM1 billion as at Aug 26.
He added that the bank has introduced the first artificial intelligence powered “customer self-initiated” SME financing mobile app that enable customers to interact with relationship managers via the app and submit their applications remotely and securely at their convenience.
On the financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020, the bank’s net profit dropped 34.9 per cent to RM400 million, compared with RM615.41 million before, mainly due to the one-off net modification loss of RM392.4 million and higher allowances for credit losses on loans, advances and financing.
Revenue declined to RM3.2 billion versus RM3.41 billion previously. — Bernama
