Loans from big banks or universal and commercial banks (UK/Bs), excluding investments in the central bank’s reverse repurchase (RRP), grew by a faster 12.1 percent in June from May’s 11.3-percent expansion.

According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released on Monday, Aug. 4, the growth in outstanding loans to residents expanded by 12.6 percent in June from 11.8 percent in May.

Meanwhile, the contraction in outstanding loans to non-residents eased slightly to 6.4 percent in June, following a faster 6.6-percent decline a month ago. Outstanding loans to non-residents cover those extended by big banks’ foreign currency deposit units (FCDUs) to borrowers abroad.

Loan growth accelerated further to 11.1 percent in June from 10.2 percent in May, supported by increased lending to major sectors. These include real estate activities, which rose by 9.9 percent; electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply, up 29.2 percent; financial and insurance activities, up 12 percent; and transportation and storage, up 15.9 percent.

Consumer loans to residents grew by 24 percent in June, up from 23.7 percent in May. These include credit card, motor vehicle, and general-purpose salary loans.

Domestic liquidity or the amount of money in the economy, as measured by M3, expanded by 6.3 percent in June, reaching around ₱18.6 trillion. This expansion rate was faster than May’s 5.5 percent, preliminary data from the BSP showed.

M3 is a broad measure of money supply that includes currencies in circulation, bank deposits, and other financial assets that are easily convertible to cash.

Claims on the domestic sector—which cover both private and government borrowers—grew by 10.7 percent year-on-year in June, unchanged from May.

In particular, claims on the private sector increased by 11.3 percent during the month, higher than the 10.9-percent increase in May, as bank lending to non-financial firms and households continued to expand.

Meanwhile, net claims on the government moderated to 7.5 percent in June, from a faster 9.1-percent rate in the previous month. The BSP said this was caused by higher government borrowings.

Net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms declined by 1.7 percent, significantly easing from a 4.6-percent drop in May.

The central bank’s NFA dropped by 2.7 percent in June, mainly due to the peso’s appreciation against the United States (US) dollar.

“Meanwhile, banks’ NFA rose largely on account of larger holdings of foreign currency-denominated debt instruments,” the BSP added.

Moving forward, the BSP assured it will continue to manage money supply in the economy to align with its current monetary policy stance.