- Coface’ survey shows that more firms expressed willingness to grant payment terms in 2023 but they tightened payment terms to 70 days from 81 days in 2022.
- As credit terms shortened, more payment delays were reported in 2023. However, average payment delays decreased to 64 days from 83 days previously.
- The downward trend in ultra-long payment delays (ULPD, above 180 days) continued.
- Construction still experienced the longest payment delays (84 days) while textile appeared to have the highest non-payment risks
- More than half of our respondents expected business conditions to improve in 2024, even if the demand slowdown was anticipated to be more acute this year. Fierce competition was still seen as the biggest risk to business operations in 2024, but was expected to ease from 2023.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 19 March 2024 – Junyu Tan, North Asia Economist at Coface, said: “2023 was the year when economic activities generally normalised from the pandemic. The same went for corporate business practices regarding payment terms. As market competition and practices returned to normal, more companies took the initiative to grant payment terms.
