The country’s money supply slightly grew in March on the back of continued expansion in bank lending, the latest figures provided by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed on Thursday.
Preliminary central bank data showed that domestic liquidity (M3) grew by 5.7 percent year-on-year to about P17.2 trillion in March from 5.1 percent in February.
On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, M3 increased by about 0.9 percent.
Domestic claims expanded by 10.8 percent year-on-year in March from 9.6 percent in the previous month.
Claims on the private sector grew by 10.9 percent from 10.3 in February with the sustained expansion in bank lending to non-financial private corporations and households.
Net claims on the central government expanded by 15.0 percent from 12.0 percent (revised) due in part to the decline in the deposits of the National Government with the BSP.
Net foreign assets (NFA) in peso terms rose by 5.0 percent year-on-year in March from 3.6 percent in February. The BSP’s NFA grew by 6.2 percent. Meanwhile, the NFA of banks contracted on account of higher bills payable.
“The BSP will continue to ensure that domestic liquidity conditions remain consistent with the prevailing stance of monetary policy, in keeping with its price and financial stability objectives,” BSP said in an accompanying statement.
Bank lending
A separate central bank data showed that outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs), net of reverse repurchase (RRP) placements with the BSP, grew by 9.4 percent year-on-year in March from 8.6 percent in February.
On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, outstanding universal and commercial bank loans, net of RRPs, went up by 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile, outstanding loans to residents, net of RRPs, increased by 9.5 percent in March from 8.7 percent in the previous month, while outstanding loans to non-residents went up by 9.1 percent in March after expanding by 6.5 percent in the previous month.
Outstanding loans for production activities increased by 7.7 percent in March from 6.8 percent in February, mainly due to the rise in loans to major sectors particularly real estate activities (11.5 percent); electricity, gas, steam, and airconditioning supply (10.1 percent); wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (6.6 percent); construction (18.3 percent); manufacturing (4.9 percent); and transportation and storage (14.3 percent).
Similarly, consumer loans to residents went up by 25.4 percent in March from a growth rate of 25.2 percent in February, driven by the increase in credit card, motor vehicle, and salary-based general purpose consumption loans.
Looking ahead, the BSP will ensure that domestic liquidity and credit conditions remain in line with its price and financial stability objectives. (TCSP)
