BANKS in the Philippines are still lending out more money than they did last year, but the pace of lending has slowed down slightly in March.
The total amount of loans from big banks grew by 11.8 percent compared to last year, which is a slightly less than the 12.2 percent growth in February.
One of the main reasons for the slower lending is that businesses borrowed a bit less money for industries like real estate at 9.6 percent; wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (11.6 percent); information and communication (8.9 percent); construction (1.8 percent); arts, entertainment and recreation (12.6 percent); water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (12.9 percent); and accommodation and food service activities (19.3 percent).
However, consumer loans to residents grew by 23.6 percent in March from 24.1 percent in February, driven by the increase in credit card loans, motor vehicle loans, and salary-based general-purpose consumption loans.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it will keep an eye on how much money is available and how easy it is to borrow to make sure prices stay stable and the economy is healthy. / KOC