Bank lending up 17.3% to P5.5T in Aug.

Commercial banks’ lending activities grew by 17.3 percent year-on-year to P5.5 trillion in August, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data released yesterday showed.

Last August, the increase in total outstanding loans to residents as well as non-residents, net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the BSP, was slower than the 17.7-percent growth in July, during which outstanding loans stood at P5.4 trillion.

Bank lending gross of RRPs rose 15.9 percent, or at a slightly slower pace than the previous month’s 16 percent, to P5.8 trillion.

“On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, commercial bank lending net of RRPs and loans inclusive of RRPs increased by 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively,” the BSP said in a statement.

In August, loans for production activities accounted for over four-fifths of banks’ aggregate loan portfolio. Production loans rose 17.3 percent to P4.9 trillion, also a little slower than the 17.4-percent expansion a month ago.

The BSP said production loan growth last month was supported by higher lending to the following sectors: Information and communication (up 43.2 percent year-on-year); electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply (up 30.9 percent); real estate activities (up 19.5 percent); wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (up 15.9 percent); and financial and insurance activities (up 15.3 percent).

“Bank lending to other sectors likewise expanded during the month, except for mining and quarrying (down 1 percent); water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (down 0.6 percent); and, public administration and defense, compulsory social security (down 5.0 percent),” the BSP added.

Loans for household consumption, meanwhile, grew by 20.3 percent to P436.2 billion last August, slightly slower than the 20.6 percent in the previous month. The central bank attributed this to “sustained growth in salary-based general-purpose loans, credit card loans, and motor vehicle loans, which offset the decline in other types of household loans.” Ben O. de Vera