Bank loan payments improve as rates ease

Bad loans ratio drops to 3.3% in Nov

- By KEISHA TA-ASAN

The quality of loans held by Philippine banks showed improvement in November last year as fewer borrowers fell behind on their payments, helped by lower interest rates and continued growth in lending.

Preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed the banking system's nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio eased to 3.32 percent in November from 3.33 percent in October. This marked the lowest level in two months or since the 3.31 percent recorded in September.