Agri loans up in 2013

MANILA, Philippines–Bank loans for agricultural production grew by 13 percent in 2013 to P236.4 billion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA also said in a report that in 2012, the portion of bank lending for farm production decreased by 2.6 percent to P209.6 billion.

Last year, the share of production loans to gross value added in the agriculture sector went up to 18.2 percent from 16.8 percent in 2012.

This represented an upturn in the ratio, which decreased steadily in the previous four years from 20.2 percent in 2009.

The PSA explained that this indicator measured the portion of the agricultural output that is absorbed by the bank for credit availment and provided information on the most and least financed sectors or commodities.

For 2013, there were 18 centavos of lending for every peso of agricultural output.

In that year, sugarcane received the biggest lending support from both state and private banks, with 46 centavos of loan support for every peso value of sugarcane produced.

Palay and coconut followed with 15 centavos and 9 centavos, respectively.

Among crops, the least supported were the production of corn with 8 centavos and rubber with 0.5 centavo.

Also, the PSA said the bulk of the loans provided for agricultural production activities came from the private banks.

However, the agency said the private banks’ share of the total was “gradually decreasing over the period 2009 to 2013,” from 87.5 percent to 85.6 percent.

During the five-year period, private commercial banks consistently accounted for the biggest share of lending for agricultural production.

In 2009, these banks shouldered 31 percent, or P66 billion, of the P212.7-billion total. In 2013, they accounted for 33 percent, or P78 billion, of the P236.4-billion total.

Rural banks were the next biggest lenders, which as a group accounted for between 21 percent and 27 percent of yearly total lending for agricultural output.

State banks were third, accounting for between 12 percent and 15 percent of such loans during the five-year period.