Lending growth slows in March

BANK LENDING expanded at its slowest pace in four months in March as loan growth for both production activities and consumers eased, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

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Outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks, net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the central bank, rose by 11.8% year on year to P13.19 trillion from P11.795 trillion.

This eased from the 12.2% expansion in February and was the slowest since the 11.1% growth seen in November 2024. Still, this was faster than the 9.44% annual increase logged in March 2024.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, big banks’ outstanding loans inched up by 0.9% month on month.

Outstanding loans to residents increased by 12.3% year on year to P12.87 trillion in March, slower than the 12.6% growth in February. Meanwhile, loans to nonresidents decreased by 5.6% to P324.82 billion in March from the 3.2% decline seen in the previous month.

Loans for production activities expanded by 10.9% to P11.23 trillion in March, slower than the 11.2% growth in February.