Bank lending picks up pace in February

MANILA, Philippines -  Growth in bank loans, a bellwether for economic activities, accelerated to 18.1 percent in February from 17.9 percent in January amid strong demand for funds to bankroll the expansion program of corporate and individual borrowers.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) yesterday reported the outstanding loans of commercial banks amounted to P6.04 trillion in February, P927.17 billion higher than the P5.11 trillion in February 2016.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. attributed the faster growth to the higher take up of in loans for production activities.

Data showed lending for production activities amounted to P5.38 trillion in February and accounted for 89.1 percent of the total bank loans.

Loans to real estate activities increased 17.1 percent to P1.06 trillion, accounting for 17.5 percent of the total loan portfolio while lending to the manufacturing sector grew 11 percent to P846.16 billion for a 14 percent share.

Lending to the wholesale and retail trade as well as repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles rose 13.9 percent to P823.76 billion for a 13.6 percent share while lending to electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply expanded 14.2 percent to P655.52 billion for an 10.9 percent share.

On the other had, Tetangco said the growth in loans for household consumption jumped to 24.6 percent in February from 23.7 percent in January.

Loans for household consumption amounted to P486.88 billion in February for an 8.1 percent share.

Motor vehicle loans zoomed 34.6 percent to P213.45 billion from P158.62 billion while credit card loans booked a double-digit growth of 12.8 percent to P197.57 billion from P175.2 billion.

Salary-based general consumption loans surged 53.5 percent to P65.11 billion from P42.42 billion.

“Going forward, the BSP will continue to ensure that the expansion in domestic credit and liquidity conditions proceeds in line with overall economic growth while remaining consistent with the BSP’s price and financial stability objectives,” Tetangco said.