Banks’ foreign currency deposit units (FCDUs) totaled $18 billion as of end-June, down by 1.7 percent or $303 million compared to the previous quarter’s $18.3 billion with principal payments still exceeding disbursements, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

“The slowdown in FCDU lending may be due to lower customer inventory financing needs and working capital requirements as the ongoing health crisis continued to constrain domestic economic activity,” said the BSP.
On a year-on-year basis, FCDU loans was up by 2.8 percent or $486 million from same time last year of $17.5 billion.
Gross disbursements in the second quarter declined by 21.3 percent to $11.2 billion compared to the period ending March. Loan repayments were also down by 17.4 percent, resulting in overall net repayments, said the BSP.
The central bank also reported that as of end-June, the maturity profile of the FCDU loan portfolio was still mostly medium- to long-term debt or those payable over a term of more than one year. This accounted for 79.9 percent of the total which was higher than the 78.1 percent level same time in 2019.
The BSP said of the total 64.3 percent outstanding loans to residents, 52.2 percent were divided to these sectors: power generation companies with 18.4 percent; merchandise and service exporters with 15.1 percent; public utility firms with 7.3 percent; management/holding and stock brokerage with 5.8 percent; and towing, tanker, trucking, forwarding, personal and other industries with 5.6 percent.
As of end-June, total FCDU deposit liabilities went up by one percent or $439 million to $43.6 billion compared to end-March’s $43.1 billion. “The bulk of these deposits (98.2 percent) continue to be owned by residents, essentially constituting an additional buffer to the country’s gross international reserves,” said the BSP. Compared to same time last year, FCDU deposit liabilities increased by 5.3 percent or $2.2 billion from $41.3 billion.
FCDUs are units of local banks or local branches of foreign banks authorized by the BSP to engage in foreign currency-denominated transactions.