Foreign currency loans peaked at $12.51B at end-2016

Foreign currency loans extended by local banks inched up 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter to $12.51 billion at end-2016, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said.

The foreign currency deposit units (FCDU) figure as of December was higher than $12.436 billion in September as there were more disbursements than principal repayments, Tetangco said in a statement.

The end-2016 FCDU loans also increased from end-2015’s $12.194 billion “as transactions resulted in overall net disbursements of $305 million with positive adjustments (due to exchange rate movements and other audit adjustments) of $12 million,” Tetangco explained.

Outstanding FCDU loans to resident borrowers, which declined 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter to $8.423 billion, accounted for 67.3 percent of the total, BSP data showed.

Tetangco said the loans to residents were infused into the following industries and sectors: merchandise and service exporters ($3.1 billion); towing, tanker, trucking and forwarding ($2.5 billion); public utility firms ($1.3 billion); producers/manufacturers, including oil companies ($600 million); and management/holding and stock brokerage ($500 million).

“The $500-million balance were loans to other borrowers, including the public sector,” according to Tetangco.

As for gross disbursements, these rose to $13.1 billion from $10.4 billion in the previous quarter. —BEN O. DE VERA