PH bucks slowing regional credit growth

Debt watcher S&P Global Ratings reported that credit growth across emerging markets (EMs) in Asia has generally softened in the first six months of the year, except in the Philippines and Vietnam, where lending has notably picked up pace.

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The latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed that loans from major banks, including universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) but excluding investments in the central bank’s reverse repurchase (RRP), grew slightly faster—by 11.3 percent in May, compared to the 11.2-percent growth in April.

The BSP has stated that the faster lending growth in June was driven by loans to both businesses and individual consumers.

Credit conditions in the region’s EMs generally “held up better than expected,” S&P Global said in a report last week, citing a weaker United States (US) dollar and the “smaller impact” of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on individual economies' growth.

These conditions have been pulling in capital flows to EMS, the credit rating agency noted.