Cambodia’s banking and microfinance industry saw healthy growth in 2018, with total customer deposits rising 15.3% to more than $22bn and loan portfolio soaring 18.8% to nearly $24.5bn, according the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)’s annual report. In the MFI sector, loan portfolios surged 34.2% YoY to reach $5.4bn at the end of 2018, most of which were taken out by small entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector (22%), households (33%), trade (22%), and service (11%). The report notes that the average capital adequacy ratio was 21% for banks and 25% for MFIs, much higher than the minimum required 15%. The liquidity ratio was also higher than the 80% required, reaching an average of 168% in the banking sector and 188% in the MFI sector. NBC’s director-general Chea Serey pointed out that the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio in the agriculture rose in 2018 due to natural disasters, reaching 8.2%, higher than manufacturing (4.1%), construction (4.2%), and trading (3.2%). (Source: Khmer Times)