Philippine universal and commercial banks saw a notable acceleration in credit activity this March, with overall loan growth rising to 10.7% year-on-year. According to preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), this is a significant uptick from the 9.6% growth recorded in February, driven primarily by a surge in demand from the corporate sector.
Business-related loans, which are used to fund various commercial activities, expanded by 9.7% in March compared to 8.6% the previous month. This growth was distributed across several key industries, including real estate, energy and utility supply, wholesale and retail trade, automotive repair, and the transportation and storage sectors.
In contrast, the pace of consumer lending experienced a marginal cooling. While resident consumer loans still posted a robust 20.5% increase, this was slightly lower than the 20.8% growth seen in February. The BSP attributed this modest deceleration to a slowdown in motor vehicle financing and salary-based general-purpose consumption loans. Overall, the data reflects a shift toward business-led credit expansion as the primary engine for the country’s banking growth.
Click here for more on Banking
