Foreign currency loans granted by banks down 2.5% in Q2

Loans granted by Philippine banks' foreign currency deposit units (FCDUs) declined by 2.4 percent in the second quarter of the year, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

"As of end-June, outstanding loans granted by FCDUs of banks stood at $14.0 billion, down by $347 million or 2.4 percent from the end-March level of $14.3 billion as principal repayments exceeded disbursements," BSP Officer-In-Charge Chuchi Fonacier said.

FCDU refers to the unit of a local bank or of a local branch of a foreign bank authorized by the BSP to engage in foreign currency-denominated transactions.

Merchandise and service exporters took the lion's share of outstanding loans amounting to $3.1 billion.

Othe industries that benefitted from FCDU loans were towing, tanker, trucking and forwarding at $3 billion; public utility firms at $1.4 billion; producers/manufacturers, including oil companies at $0.6 billion; and management/holding and stock brokerage at $0.5 billion.

"The maturity mix of the loan portfolio remained biased towards medium- to long-term debt or those payable over a term of more than one year, which represented 75 percent of total," Fonacier said.

FCDU deposit liabilities were likewise lower at $37.2 billion from last quarter’s $37.3 billion level, but the bulk of deposits at 96.7 percent continued to be held by residents, according to the central bank. — MDM, GMA News

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