Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s top executive said the bank needs to be cautious in its drive to boost lending in Asia, as a slowdown in China and the slump in commodity prices cloud the region's economic outlook.
While President Koichi Miyata said he has no intention of changing his firm's strategy of focusing on Asia, he expects it to be difficult to grow the bank's Asian loan book for a while.
"China is slowing, natural resource prices are falling, and there's also the issue of slowing in countries that are highly dependent on trade with China," Miyata, 62, said in an interview earlier this month. "A cautious approach is going to be needed with regard to credit in Asia for the time being."