Bank lending up 10.7% in May

CEBU, Philippines — Outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) to Filipino consumers grew by 10.7 percent, year-on-year, in May.

Preliminary data from Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) revealed that outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs), net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the BSP, expanded at a quicker rate of 10.7 percent year-on-year in May after a 10.1-percent increase in the previous month.

On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, outstanding universal and commercial bank loans, net of RRPs, rose by 1.0 percent.

Outstanding loans to residents, net of RRPs, increased by 10.6 percent in May from 10.0 percent in April.

Specifically, outstanding loans for production activities went up by 10.8 percent in May from 10.3 percent in April with the rise in loans for real estate activities (16.4 percent); manufacturing (16.0 percent); information and communication (27.1 percent); wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (6.2 percent); and construction (12.3 percent).

Similarly, growth in consumer loans to residents accelerated to 8.5 percent in May from 6.7 percent in April with the year-on-year increase in credit card loans and salary-based general purpose consumption loans.

Meanwhile, outstanding loans to non-residents1 expanded at a slower rate of 12.5 percent in May from 13.5 percent (revised) in the previous month.

1 Outstanding loans to non-residents include loans by UKB’s foreign currency deposit units (FCDUs) to non- residents.

With the ongoing normalization of its monetary policy settings, the BSP will continue to ensure that the expansion in credit and liquidity proceeds in line with the outlook for inflation and economic growth while remaining consistent with the BSP’s price and financial stability objectives.