Concern Banks May Be Underreporting NPLs

(Beijing) – Recent figures show that the amount of toxic assets at commercial banks remained relatively low, but regulators are concerned that the real conditions of the credit business might be worse than the data suggests.

By the end of September, the amount of outstanding non-performing loans (NPLs) at all commercial banks in the country increased by 63 billion yuan from nine months ago, reaching 0.97 percent of all outstanding loans, up from the 0.9 percent at the end of June, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said.