Opinion-Editorial NEWS

The central bank’s efforts to convince banks to release more funds to pandemic-hit borrowers especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) finally paid off in August when bank lending shifted from a contraction to a growth for the first time since December 2020.

Banks’ non-performing loans (NPL) ratio still remained unchanged at 4.51 percent in August from the previous month, July, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported.

Big banks’ outstanding loans continue to decline by 2.7 percent year-on-year in February, worse than 2.5 percent in January as both banks and borrowers shy away from releasing and availing of loans while COVID-19 cases are still on the high side and delaying economic recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed bank lending to decline by 2.4 percent in January, a larger drop from 0.7 percent end-December 2020 with lackluster loan demand and risk-averse banks due to the year-long lockdown and restrictions to economic activity.

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez   on  Monday,  (Feb. 22)  urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to craft rules to encourage banks to lend more for auto loans stressing that banks have huge liquidity that they can use to help businesses recover.

Bank lending growth has declined to 0.3 percent year-on-year in November last year versus 1.8 percent in October, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported late Wednesday.

With weak demand and risk-aversion, big banks’ lending growth further slowed down to 1.9 percent in October from 2.6 percent in September, based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.

Keeps accommodative policy

Big banks’ outstanding loans in August grew by only by 4.7 percent year-on-year, a significant low number compared to 6.7 percent in July, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.