Philippines' lending activities up 19.4% to PHP3.8t in February

Faster growth than previous record.

Lending activities of universal and commercial banks expanded 19.4% YoY to PHP3.8t in February, faster than 17.1% growth in January.

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In absolute amounts, loans grew by PHP618b YoY.

Borrowings from the production sector rose 17.8% with robust growth evident in most sectors. Real estate and business services accounted for 18.5% of lending and went up 20.2%, quicker than 17.3% a month ago.

Electricity, gas and water also grew faster at 34.8% from 29.6% last month, while manufacturing slowed down to 11.3% from 12.7%. Other major sectors also exhibited double-digit growths: construction (41.6%), trade (18.9%), and financial intermediation (14.5%).

Lending to transport, storage and communications which makes up 6.3% of loans cut its five-month losing streak and grew 2.4%. On the consumer front, loans jumped 9.2% from 8.9% rise a month ago. Credit card receivables slowed down to 5.3% from 5.9%, while auto loans inched up by 12.1% from 11.6% last month.

Others which include personal and salary loans, expanded 21.1%, faster than from 16.4% a month ago. The central bank expects that with the 1 ppt increase in reserve requirement, bank lending growth should move toward its long-run trend.