Bank Lending Grows by 12% in July

Preliminary data show that outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs), net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), expanded by 12.0 percent year-on-year in July, the same rate of growth as in June.

On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, outstanding universal and commercial bank loans, net of RRPs, went up by 0.6 percent.

Outstanding loans to residents, net of RRPs, rose by 11.9 percent in July following the same expansion in the previous month.

Outstanding loans for production activities increased by 11.6 percent in July after growing by 12.0 percent in June, driven mainly by the rise in lending for real estate activities (14.6 percent); manufacturing (16.2 percent); information and communication (29.3 percent); and wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (9.3 percent).

Similarly, the expansion in consumer loans to residents accelerated to 14.7 percent in July from 10.9 percent (revised) in June due to the year-on-year increase in credit card loans, motor vehicle loans, and salary-based general purpose consumption loans.

At the same time, outstanding loans to non-residents^[1] grew by 14.6 percent in July after a 16.4-percent uptick in the previous month.

The sustained growth in bank lending and liquidity will support the recovery of economic activity and domestic demand. Looking ahead, the BSP will continue to ensure that liquidity and credit dynamics remain in line with the BSP’s price and financial stability objectives.

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