The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile has handed Standard Chartered (StanChart) Bank an award for emerging the Best Performing Commercial Bank in government securities for the month of May 2018.
The award was handed out after the BOU governor’s monthly meeting with the Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) – an umbrella body for commercial banks operating in Uganda. Governor Mutebile congratulated the StanChart CEO, Albert Saltson, upon this performance.
Meanwhile, a Bank of Uganda quarterly survey on deposit-taking financial institutions indicates Banks Expect Businesses to Borrow More, Default More on Dollar Loans. Bou supervises 24 commercial banks and 9 non-bank institutions.
BOU does the survey on a quarterly basis to better understand how they are lending and what the credit market in Uganda looks like.
Findings from the survey for the period April – June 2018, as well as expectations for July – September 2018, have been published in the Bank Lending Survey Report Fourth Quarter – FY 2017/18.
The report shows that most banks anticipate an increase in the demand for credit to businesses in the quarter to September 2018, largely influenced by more business opportunities and expected investments in the oil and gas sector.
BOU also expect the default rate on loans to businesses to increase mainly because of the likely impact of the depreciation of the Uganda shilling against the dollar, particularly from businesses that borrowed in foreign currency.
Following the reduction in Central Bank Rate for June 2018, the cost of funds to banks is expected to reduce, which will lead to reduction in pricing of loans. The survey shows that a few banks expect their lending rates to decrease.
