Big banks’ outstanding loans reported a 17.9 percent year-on-year increase for the month of January, a faster pace of growth compared to December’s 17.3 percent, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday.

In peso value, bank lending amounted to P5.988-trillion net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements. With RRPs, it reached P6.252 trillion.

The bulk of bank loans or about 89.2 percent or productivity loans led by real estate which amounted to over P1 trillion, and financial and insurance loans.

Inclusive of banks’ RRPs with the BSP, which are borrowings by the central bank using securities, bank lending went up by 16.2 percent in January, slightly more than December’s 16.1 percent.

“On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, commercial bank lending for loans net of RRPs and loans inclusive of RRPs increased by 1.8 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively,” according to the BSP. The BSP added it 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.”

For January, loans categorized as production by economic activity grew by 17.5 percent year-on-year to P5.339 trillion. This was a faster pace of expansion than December’s 16.9 percent growth for productivity loans.

Loans extended for real estate activities reported growth of 18.7 percent during the period, to P1.057 trillion, while financial and insurance activities’ loans went up by 25.1 percent to P513.335 billion.

Lending to wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, in the meantime amounted to P858.442 billion or up by 20.6 percent, while electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply increased by 15.8 percent to P664.546 billion in January. The manufacturing sector had P833.259-billion loans which was 8.5 percent higher year-on-year.

Loans for household consumption, on the other hand, grew by 23.7 percent in January to P484.938 billion. It was a higher growth than December’s 23.4 percent.

The BSP said this is due to the “expansion in credit card loans as well as sustained growth in motor vehicle loans and salary-based general-purpose loans, offsetting the decline in other types of household loans.”

Source: http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/03/01/bank-lending-posts-robust-growth-of-17-9/