The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday that bank lending of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) grew faster in April while domestic liquidity growth slowed.
"Preliminary data indicated that outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs), net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the BSP, expanded by 9.6% year-on-year in April from 9.4% in March," the BSP said in a statement.
'On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, outstanding universal and commercial bank loans, net of RRPs, increased by 0.9 percent," it added.
The BSP said growth was driven by the rise in lending to key industries, including real estate activities (11%); electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply (9.2%); wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (7.6%); transportation and storage (21.8%); and construction (15.1%).
Outstanding loans issued by U/KBs amounted to P11.9 trillion from P11.7 trillion in March and P10.8 trillion in April last year.
The BSP said outstanding loans to residents, net of RRPs, went up by 9.6 percent in April from 9.5 percent in March, while outstanding loans to non-residents rose 10.8 percent from 9.1 percent in the previous month.
Loans for production activities expanded by 7.8% in April from 7.7%in March.
Consumer loans to residents also grew by 25.3 percent in April compared to 25.4 percent in March, due mainly to the continued increase in credit card, motor vehicle, and salary-based general-purpose consumption loans.
Meanwhile, domestic liquidity (M3) expanded by 5.6% year on year to P17.2 trillion in April from 5.7% in March.
Domestic claims expanded by 10.6% from 10.9% in the previous month.
Claims on the private sector grew by 10.8 percent from 11 percent in March with the sustained expansion in bank lending to non-financial private corporations and households.
Net claims on the central government expanded by 13.9% from 15.1% due in part to the decline in the deposits of the national government with the BSP.
The BSP said net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms rose by 2.1% year on year in April from 5% in March.
The BSP's NFA grew by 4.6%, while the NFA of banks contracted due to higher bills and bonds payable.
"The BSP will continue to ensure that domestic liquidity conditions remain consistent with the prevailing stance of monetary policy, in line with its price and financial stability objectives," it said.