Outstanding loans granted by the country’s commercial banks grew at a faster rate in April compared to the previous month due to a surge in lending to the retail trade sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday.
In a statement, the central bank noted, however, that this growth was dampened by a slowdown in demand for credit from household consumers which, traditionally, has been one of the the drivers of loans.
Excluding banks’ short term placements with the BSP, outstanding loans increased by 19.9 percent in April from the revised rate of 18.5 percent in March.
Likewise, the growth of bank lending, inclusive of short term placements with the central bank, accelerated to 19.9 percent in April from 18.8 percent in the previous month.
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, commercial bank loans net of and loans inclusive of bank placements with the central bank increased by 2.2 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, loans for production activities—which comprised 88.5 percent of banks’ aggregate loan portfolio — grew faster by 19.6 percent in April from 18.2 percent in the previous month.
