NovBanking, credit and mortgages in Cambodia
How to read the size of Cambodia’s banking system, asset quality, dollarisation and property finance without turning system-wide statistics into a promise that an individual buyer will receive a mortgage.
Period: 2025 · checked 22.07.2026
Indicators and their vintage
Each figure keeps two dates: the period it measures and the date it was published. A 2025 result released in mid-2026 was not available at the end of 2025, and a forecast is never shown as an observed outcome.
| Indicator | Value | Period | Released | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross non-performing-loan ratio[2] | 8.9% | 2025 | 08.06.2026 | World Bank measure for the banking system; do not mix it with the net ratio after provisions. |
A banking system that is large relative to the economy
By the end of 2025, Cambodia’s banking-system assets had reached KHR 402.3 trillion, or about US$100.2 billion, equal to 201.2% of GDP in the National Bank of Cambodia’s measurement. Credit stood at 127.8% of GDP and deposits at 128.9% [1]. These ratios describe financial depth and the exceptionally large role of banks in the economy. They do not reveal how much liquidity is available to a new foreign buyer, whether a particular developer is well funded or how readily a specific mortgage application will be approved.
Assets grew 8.2% in 2025, credit 5.4% and deposits 12.4% [1]. Faster deposit growth brought the loan-to-deposit ratio down to 94.7% from 101.1% a year earlier. For property readers, that is more useful than a generic claim that finance is expanding: the system gained a larger funding cushion while lenders remained selective and the quality of existing loans continued to require close monitoring.
Why a large banking system does not equal an accessible mortgage
System statistics answer how much credit already sits on bank balance sheets, not whether a foreign applicant can obtain a standardised mortgage. Cambodia does not publish a national series that jointly reports the rate, down payment, term, currency, residence requirements, collateral type and approval rate for foreign applicants. The KHR 24.5 trillion stock of mortgage credit therefore cannot be converted into a claim that an overseas buyer will readily receive long-term finance.
A bank offer has to be read as an individual product. The advertised rate and tenor are only part of the cost: a buyer also needs the reset formula, origination fees, insurance, valuation charges, early-repayment terms, income currency and property-document requirements. Before comparing prices, the buyer must establish whether the lender accepts the proposed title and ownership structure as collateral at all; aggregate banking data cannot answer that question.
Three distinct property-credit channels
The NBC separates loans to real-estate activities excluding mortgages, construction credit and household mortgages. At the end of 2025 these categories stood at KHR 30.4 trillion, KHR 25.3 trillion and KHR 24.5 trillion respectively—about KHR 80.2 trillion in total [1]. Adding them helps describe the scale of property exposure, but they are not one market: borrowers, collateral, maturities and default mechanisms differ across the three channels.
In 2025, credit to real-estate activities rose 13.4% and construction credit 11.3%, while the mortgage stock fell 5.4% [1]. This combination proves neither a recovery nor a contraction in apartment sales. It shows expanding corporate and project-related credit positions alongside a smaller mortgage stock. To understand an individual development, a buyer still needs sales, developer cash flow, construction progress and the structure of purchaser instalments—none of which is visible in the aggregate banking table.
Non-performing loans: why 8.9% and 2.7% can both be correct
The World Bank reports a gross banking-system NPL ratio of 8.9% for 2025 [2]. The NBC’s Financial Stability Review gives a 2.7% net NPL ratio for deposit-taking institutions after provisions [1]. These are not competing opinions about the same number. The gross ratio measures loans classified as non-performing before provisions, while the net ratio measures the residual exposure after part of the expected loss has been absorbed through provisioning.
Property readers should also examine sector ratios. At the end of 2025, gross NPL ratios were 6.9% for mortgages, 6.8% for construction and 6.5% for real-estate activities [1]. They indicate stress but cannot establish the status of a particular developer’s loan. A buyer needs documentary answers: which banks or creditors hold security over the land, building, accounts or shares of the project company, and where those claims rank if the borrower defaults.
Capital and liquidity protect the system, not an individual deal
Deposit-taking banks and financial institutions ended 2025 with a 22.0% total capital ratio and a 179.3% liquidity coverage ratio [1], both above regulatory minima. At system level, this means there was capital to absorb losses and a stock of high-quality liquid assets to meet short-term outflows. The measures provide useful context, particularly while non-performing loans are elevated.
A property buyer cannot transfer these system ratios to a booking deposit, an escrow claim or a developer obligation. Money paid to a project company is not protected merely because the banking system is well capitalised. The recipient, account purpose, refund conditions, withdrawal controls and any bank security over project assets must be checked separately. A resilient bank can still service a development whose contract leaves purchasers structurally exposed.
Dollarisation changes how interest rates are transmitted
Foreign currency represented 90.7% of deposits at the end of 2025, while riel-denominated credit accounted for 12.6% of loans [1]. Cambodia’s borrowing costs therefore depend on more than NBC decisions. Dollar funding is affected by the global cost of dollars, a bank’s external funding, competition for deposits, borrower risk and collateral quality. A stable official riel exchange rate does not turn every obligation into a risk-free dollar cash flow.
The buyer’s practical issue is currency mismatch. A unit may be priced and paid for in dollars, rent may be received in dollars or riel, service expenses may be billed in one currency, and the owner’s income may be earned in another. Leverage magnifies this mismatch. Reviewing finance should start with a map of the currencies of every payment and income stream, not a single headline rate. The underlying mechanics are covered on the Dollar and Riel page.
Developer finance requires a separate review
Growth in construction and real-estate credit does not reveal which developers received money or on what terms. A project may be funded with equity, bank debt, buyer instalments, related-party loans or a combination. These structures create different risks: a lender can add monitoring and discipline, but a secured creditor may also rank ahead of purchasers whose contractual claims are unsecured.
A minimum review asks for the legal borrower, facility amount and maturity, collateral, covenants, treatment of sales proceeds, the conditions for releasing an individual unit from security and the title-issuance process. “A well-known bank finances the project” is not sufficient. The buyer must understand whether the bank funds construction, whether it holds a charge over the land, and what document will confirm release of the purchased unit from that security.
How to read a mortgage offer without false savings
Credit should be compared by total cost and by scenario, not by the first quoted rate. The currency and payment schedule, fixed-rate period, reset formula, every fee, mandatory insurance, early-repayment charge and consequences of arrears all need to be recorded. A low introductory rate can sit beside a high fee or a short fixed period; a longer tenor reduces the instalment but raises total interest paid.
An investment unit also requires a cash-flow stress test covering vacancy, repairs, service charge, tax, tenant delay and a higher interest rate. This is not a return forecast; it is a test of debt-service capacity under disclosed assumptions. The lender assesses the probability of loan repayment. The buyer must separately assess the property, rental, currency and resale-liquidity risks that do not disappear when a bank approves the loan.
A sequence to follow before paying money
The property and ownership structure should be checked first, collateral eligibility second, personal creditworthiness third and the price of finance only after that. Reversing the order is risky: a promotional pre-approval can encourage a booking for a unit that later fails the bank’s legal or valuation review. The reservation agreement should state what happens to the deposit if finance is declined or the bank valuation falls below the SPA price.
Once a term sheet is available, all flows should be placed on one timeline: buyer equity, bank drawdowns, developer payments, handover, title and the start of interest. That timeline must then be compared with the SPA and loan documents. A mismatch in dates, recipients or drawdown conditions is not administrative trivia; it can create a funding gap in which the buyer owes the developer before the bank is obliged to disburse.
What this means for a property buyer
Cambodia’s banking system is large relative to the economy and ended 2025 with strong aggregate capital and liquidity measures, while still carrying a material stock of non-performing loans [1][2]. A buyer has to hold both facts at once: system resilience does not remove selective underwriting, and the presence of a bank in a project does not replace a review of security and contractual ranking.
For a financed purchase, the decisive document is not a promotional instalment illustration but a reconciled timeline of SPA obligations, bank drawdowns and title transfer. Banking data also matter to a cash buyer because they show the broader financing environment and sector pressure, but they cannot answer the project-level question. That answer requires review of the project company, land, encumbrances and payment flows.
What we do not know
Public statistics do not provide a single average effective mortgage rate for foreign applicants, approval rates, the distribution of down payments, average loan-to-value, arrears by borrower nationality or the credit quality of a specific development. There is also no complete public developer-security register that can be systematically reconciled with apartment sales.
System data arrive with a lag and may be revised. Gross and net NPLs, banks and microfinance institutions, outstanding credit and new disbursements are different measures. Where a bank or agency quotes a rate without a complete method and date, we do not treat it as a market benchmark.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner obtain a mortgage in Cambodia?
Some banks may consider foreign applicants, but there is no universal entitlement or standard national mortgage package. The decision depends on the lender, the applicant’s status and income, currency, ownership structure, title and collateral; terms should be confirmed in a written term sheet for the specific unit.
Does a high credit-to-GDP ratio mean a banking crisis?
No. The 127.8% ratio describes the scale of credit relative to the economy, not automatic insolvency [1]. It needs to be read with credit growth, asset quality, capital, liquidity, deposits and sector concentration.
Why is the NPL ratio reported as both 8.9% and 2.7%?
The 8.9% figure is the gross system ratio reported by the World Bank, while 2.7% is the NBC’s net ratio for deposit-taking institutions after provisions [1][2]. They answer different questions and should not be substituted for each other.
Does bank finance guarantee that a project is safe?
No. A bank may conduct due diligence and monitor the borrower, but its secured claim can rank ahead of a purchaser’s claim. The buyer needs to see the security, unit-release conditions and consistency between the finance documents and the SPA.
Which three figures matter most in a bank report?
There is no universal three-number test, but gross NPLs, capital and liquidity are useful together, followed by funding structure and credit concentration. A single high or low number without its methodology rarely supports a reliable conclusion.
What should be checked before booking a mortgaged unit?
Obtain a preliminary written lender view on both applicant and property, check the title and ownership structure, and state in the reservation agreement what happens to the deposit after a decline or low valuation. The drawdown schedule must match the SPA obligations.
Where this leads next
Sources
The sources cited on this page, numbered in order. Each one is named with its issuing body and release date, because a figure without a vintage cannot be checked for staleness. We do not publish outbound links — the document name and the institution are enough to find and verify it yourself.
- [1] Financial Stability Review 2025 — National Bank of Cambodia — 03.2026
- [2] Cambodia Economic Update, June 2026: Navigating Shocks — World Bank — 08.06.2026
Apply this to a specific property
Tell us the project and the goal — we will say which of these numbers actually bears on that decision and what still has to be confirmed in the building’s own documents.
WhatsApp Contact formInformational material based on public, dated sources. It is not a public offer and not individual investment, tax or legal advice, and no forecast here is a promise of price or yield. Figures carry the period and the release date of their source and may be revised by the issuing body. A decision on a specific property requires document, price and ownership-cost checks with an independent Cambodian lawyer.