PHL big banks post slower growth in assets, loans in 2nd quarter

THE GROWTH in combined assets and loans of the country's biggest lenders eased as of the end of June, dragged by weaker economic output in the second quarter despite cheaper borrowing costs and slower inflation.

- Abigail Marie P. Yraola

The latest edition of Business World's quarterly banking report showed that the aggregate assets of 44 universal and commercial banks grew by 9.05% year on year to P27.37 trillion in the second quarter from P25.09 trillion a year earlier.

This pace was slower than the 9.51% logged in the first three months of the year and the 10.7% growth in the second quarter of 2024.

Asset growth during the period was the weakest in five quarters or since the 8.69% expansion recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, the aggregate loans of the country's biggest lenders went up by 12.38% year on year to P14.4 trillion in the April-to-June period.

This expansion was slower than the 13.46% recorded in the first quarter and the 14.01% growth in the second quarter of last year.

Lending growth was also the weakest in the five quarters or since the 12.32% observed in the first three months last year.

This modest growth in both assets and loans mirrored economic developments such as slowing economic growth and benign inflation.

In the second quarter, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by an annual 5.5%, slower than the 6.5% growth in the same period last year but slightly faster than the 5.4% expansion in the January-March period.

This brought GDP growth to 5.4% in the first semester, slowing from 6.2% a year earlier.