Philippine bank lending up 16.2%

Loan releases of Philippine commercial banks increased 16.2 percent to P3.219 trillion for the full year 2012.

This is on the back of improving outstanding accounts and borrowers’ credit profile.

With bank placements in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or reverse repurchase agreements, the total outstanding loans rose 15.4 percent to P3.455 trillion.

According to the BSP, the “continued growth in bank lending, particularly to the productive sectors, is expected to support the growth momentum of the economy."

As of the end of 2012, domestic liquidity or M3 expanded by 10.6 percent to P5.171 trillion, a faster pace of growth compared to November’s 9.8 percent.

The growth in money supply was driven by the sustained expansion in net domestic assets or the robust lending activity by commercial banks.

Based on the latest data which is December, loans for production activities went up by 16.6 percent from 14.6 percent in November. In value terms, loans reached P2.962 trillion. Consumer loans, in the meantime, increased 14.1 percent to P257.38 billion, a higher growth than November’s 12.1 percent.

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