DBS drives S$20 billion in Apac data centre deals as AI boom tests bank funding limits
If alternative financing channels and debt-recycling models fail to materialise, Asia’s data centre buildout could slow
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[SINGAPORE] DBS arranged more than S$20 billion in data centre financing across the Asia-Pacific in 2025, as an unprecedented surge in demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure – from data centres to semiconductors – begins to test the limits of traditional bank funding capacity.
Amit Sinha, global head of telecommunications, media and technology at DBS, estimates that the total capital expenditure of key data centre hyperscalers – such as Google and Microsoft – and their suppliers could reach US$1 trillion in 2026.
The worldwide AI boom has driven up these players’ capex by 70 to 80 per cent year on year, he noted.
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