MANILA: Bank lending of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) grew at a faster pace in April this year while domestic liquidity growth slowed, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
Preliminary data released by the BSP on Friday showed that banks’ outstanding loans, excluding those placed in the central bank’s reverse repurchase facility, grew by 9.6 percent in April from 9.4 percent in March.
Outstanding loans issued by U/KBs amounted to PHP11.9 trillion from PHP11.7 trillion in March and PHP10.8 trillion in April last year.
The BSP said outstanding loans to residents, net of RRPs, went up by 9.6 percent in April from 9.5 percent in March, while outstanding loans to non-residents rose 10.8 percent from 9.1 percent in the previous month.
Loans for production activities expanded by 7.8 percent in April from 7.7 percent in March.
The BSP said growth was driven by the rise in lending to key industries, including real estate activities (11 percent); electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditio
ning supply (9.2 percent); wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (7.6 percent); transportation and storage (21.8 percent); and construction (15.1 percent).
Consumer loans to residents also grew by 25.3 percent in April compared to 25.4 percent in March, due largely to the continued increase in credit card, motor vehicle, and salary-based general purpose consumption loans.
Domestic liquidity (M3), meanwhile, expanded by 5.6 percent year on year to PHP17.2 trillion in April from 5.7 percent in March.
Domestic claims expanded by 10.6 percent from 10.9 percent in the previous month.
Claims on the private sector grew by 10.8 percent from 11 percent in March with the sustained expansion in bank lending to non-financial private corporations and households.
Net claims on the central government expanded by 13.9 percent from 15.1 percent due in part to the decline in the deposits of the national government with the BSP.
The BSP said net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms rose by
2.1 percent year on year in April from 5 percent in March.
The BSP’s NFA grew by 4.6 percent while the NFA of banks contracted on account of higher bills and bonds payable.
“The BSP will continue to ensure that domestic liquidity conditions remain consistent with the prevailing stance of monetary policy, in line with its price and financial stability objectives,” it said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
