Bank lending expands in November

January 8, 2020

Preliminary data show outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks, net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the BSP, grew by 10.1 percent in November, faster than the 9.3-percent expansion in the previous month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ( BSP) said Wednesday.

On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, commercial bank loans net of RRPs grew by one percent.

Loans for production activities—which comprised 87.2 percent of banks' aggregate loan portfolio, net of RRPs—expanded at a rate of 8.1 percent in November, higher than the reported growth in October at 7.5 percent.

The sustained increase in production loans was driven primarily by lending to the following sectors: real estate activities (19.3 percent); financial and insurance activities (15.3 percent); construction (29.1 percent); and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (7.6 percent).

Bank lending to other sectors also increased during the month, except those to manufacturing (-2.3 percent), mining and quarrying (-10.8 percent), professional, scientific and technical activities (-16.6 percent), and other community, social and personal activities (-35.7 percent).

Loans from universal and commercial banks for household consumption grew by 26.6 percent in November from 26.7 percent in October due to faster growth in motor vehicle loans during the month.

Going forward, the BSP will continue to ensure that the expansion in domestic credit and liquidity remains consistent with the BSP's price and financial stability objectives. DMS