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Philippines: Credit growth picks up pace in July
MANILA, Philippines — Credit growth picked up pace in July after slowing down for two straight months as banks are now armed with additional funds from the reduction in the reserve requirement ratio.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said preliminary data showed loans extended by big banks grew at a faster rate of 11.1 percent in July from 10.5 percent in June.
Loans disbursed by universal and commercial banks reached P8.6 trillion in end July, P857.5 billion higher than the P7.75 trillion released in end-July last year.
Diokno said credit extended by big banks for production activities grew by 9.8 percent to P7.54 trillion from P6.86 trillion and accounted for 87.6 percent of the total portfolio.
He said lending to the real estate sector accelerated by 18.1 percent in July, significantly faster than the 13.5 percent recorded in June due to the strong demand for office and residential spaces amid the proliferation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
In total, loans extended for real estate activities amounted to P1.54 trillion in end-July and accounted for 18 percent of the total loan disbursements by big banks.
On the other hand, the increase in disbursements to the wholesale and retail trade as well as repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles slowed down to 4.5 percent to P1.12 trillion for a share of 13.1 percent, while releases to the manufacturing sector also eased to 1.6 percent to P1.04 trillion and accounted for 12.1 percent.
Diokno said the amount disbursed to the electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply picked up to 13.8 percent with P971.73 billion for an 11.3 percent share.
The BSP chief also reported a 23 percent jump in household loans to P756.77 billion in end-July from P615.35 billion in end July last year, accounting to an 8.8 percent share of the total loan disbursements.
The increase in loans for household consumption was faster than the 15.3 percent growth booked in June.
Motor vehicle loans zoomed by 25 percent to P348.2 billion from P278.59 billion, while credit card receivables surged by 25.3 percent to P321.05 billion from P256.18 billion.
Salary-based general purpose loans also went up by 6.4 percent to P78.63 billion, while other consumption loans jumped by 21 percent to P14.92 billion.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/09/04/1948851/credit-growth-picks-pace-july#22TxwjLePeXsSfBd.99