OCBC expects credit costs from Covid-19 impact to be higher than during GFC

Singapore

OCBC'S group CEO Samuel Tsien expects cumulative credit costs to be between 100 to 130 basis points (bps) over the next two years - higher than during the global financial crisis (GFC) and similar to the Sars period.

The extent of economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic remains "very uncertain", with a strong recovery unlikely until 2021 at the earliest, he noted during a media briefing on the bank's first-quarter results.