By Katherine K. Chan, A reporter
Philippine bank lending growth started in February as loans for corporate activities expanded rapidly, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
Total loans outstanding at international and commercial banks, net of repurchase agreements, rose 9.5% year-on-year to P14.269 trillion in February from P13.027 trillion a year ago. This was much faster than the two-year low growth of nearly 9.3% in January.
Seasonally adjusted, bank lending decreased by 0.8% in the month.
Loans to citizens increased by 10.1% to P13.987 trillion in January from P12.702 trillion a year ago, a slight improvement from 9.9% in January.
Bank loans for productive activities of citizens stood at P12.031 trillion, 8.6% year-on-year increase. This was faster than the 8.2% increase in the previous month.
This is as loans for waste management and processing activities increased by 26% in February, while loans for electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning grew by 23.5%, transportation and storage by 19.3%, real estate sales by 9%, and car and motorcycle repair by 8.2%.
Meanwhile, consumer loans of major banks increased 20.8% year-on-year to P1.956 trillion in February, from 21.3% growth in January. This includes credit card, car, and general purpose loans but does not include home equity loans.
“Consumer loans grew at a faster rate of 20.8% from 21.3% due to a slight decrease in credit card and car loans,” said the BSP statement on Tuesday night.
On the other hand, outstanding loans to non-residents, including those issued by major foreign currency banks, decreased by 13.2% year-on-year to P282.077 billion. This was a bigger decline than the 10.4% decline that occurred last month.
“BSP monitors bank loans because it is an important channel of monetary policy,” the central bank said.
“Looking forward, the BSP will ensure that domestic credit and bank lending conditions remain consistent with its rates and financial stability mandates,” it added.
LIQUIDITY GROWTH IS GROWING
Meanwhile, national income grew by 10.3% year-on-year to P19.838 trillion in the second month of the year, up from 8.6% growth in January, the central bank reported.
Based on the BSP’s preliminary data, February’s domestic money (M3) increased from P17.987 trillion recorded last year.
Month-on-month, it was up 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
M3 is a measure of the amount of money in the economy that includes currencies in circulation, bank deposits, and other financial assets that are readily convertible to cash.
Domestic claims, which include private and government claims, rose 11% year-on-year to P22.423 trillion. This was faster than the 10% increase in January.
Claims on the private sector rose 10.6% year-on-year to P14.487 trillion in February, amid “a sustained increase in bank lending to industries and non-financial households.”
Meanwhile, higher borrowing increased central government requests to P5.955 trillion during the month, up 12.4%.
Industry claims refer to the industry’s debts to depository institutions such as banks and the central bank.
BSP data also showed that net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms reached P7.455 trillion in February, up 7.4% year-on-year but slower than the 10.2% growth in January.
This happened as the central bank’s NFAs grew at a slower pace of 4.1% to P6.521 trillion from 9.2% last month.
However, this was offset by a 38.4% jump in bank NFAs to P933.142 billion in February, faster than the 18.1% jump in January. This was mainly driven by lower foreign currency debt payments.
NFAs show the difference between corporate claims and liabilities to non-residents.
