Asian Banks See Funding Costs Rise, Making 2018 Challenging

  • About 50 percent of banks polled saw cost of funds rise
  • Eighteen percent of the banks turned down low-margin loans

Photographer: Xaume Olleros/Bloomberg

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It’s been a borrower’s market for a long time, in Asian syndicated loans as in the rest of the dollar universe.

But Asia-Pacific lenders are facing increasing funding pressures, and a handful are aiming to pass those costs along -- in another sign that the beginning of the end of ultra-easy money may be coming. Half of the 50 banks in a Bloomberg News survey have experienced an increase in funding cost of as much as 20 basis points over the past few months.