[Kiri Post]: “Banking is very good business if you don't do anything dumb” - Warren Buffett.

The above quote by one of the world’s best investment gurus is apt, and while it sounds simple and straightforward, we still see banks (and bankers) paying the price of their own folly, or being unprepared and not having contingency plans to manage a crisis should it occur.

In the final part of the ‘Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses’ series that covers the banking sector, we look at a few priorities that banks and bankers should focus on; bearing in mind the list is not exhaustive.

The banking industry in Cambodia has experienced strong balance sheet growth in the past decade, along with attractive and high net interest margins, to the extent that it attracted many individuals and organisations to seek and apply for a banking licence.

The landscape has changed in the last three years as Cambodia’s banking industry entered into an unprecedented phase, resulting from the impact of Covid-19 and a number of uncontrollable forces, such as global geo-political tensions and trade tariff.

These occurrences have caused pressure to businesses and individual cashflow, eventually resulting in more delinquent / non-performing loans (NPL) cases, and causing banks to be more cautious in their lending activities.