Money supply rose by 11.7% in March

MONEY supply rose by 11.7 percent year-on-year to P8.5 trillion in March on the back of sustained credit demand, preliminary Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data released on Friday showed.

In March, the increase in domestic liquidity or the amount of money circulating in the system—expressed as “M3”—exceeded the 11.2-percent growth in February.

Money supply during the month was higher than the P8.4 trillion in February, as well as the P7.6 trillion a year ago.

“The sustained expansion of M3 during the month indicates that money supply remains sufficient to support economic growth,” the BSP said in a statement.

But while domestic claims climbed by 15.3 percent, the growth was slower than the 16.1 percent in February because “credits to the private sector increased at a slower pace,” the BSP said.

The bulk of bank loans went to the following production sectors: electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply; financial and insurance activities; information and communication; real estate activities; and wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

Net public sector credit, meanwhile, jumped by 33.4 percent, faster than the 28.9-percent expansion during the previous month.

Net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms also grew 5.9 percent, although at a slower pace than the 9.3 percent a month ago.

“The BSP’s NFA position continued to expand during the month on the back of robust foreign exchange inflows coming mainly from overseas Filipinos’ remittances, business process outsourcing receipts, and portfolio investments,” it said.

“The NFA of banks also increased, driven largely by the increase in banks’ foreign assets resulting from investments in marketable debt securities,” the BSP added. Ben O. de Vera