Credit, liquidity growth ease in June 2018 Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star) – August 2, 2018 – 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Credit growth eased for the second straight month in June as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) delivered back-to-back rate hikes to curb rising inflationary pressures.

BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said preliminary data showed the expansion in bank lending slowed down anew to 19.1 percent in June from the revised 19.3 percent in May.

Data released by the central bank showed loans extended by banks amounted to P7.4 trillion as of end-June, P1.18 trillion higher than the previous year’s P6.43 trillion.

Loans for production activities eased slightly at 19.2 percent to P6.79 trillion as of end-June from P5.69 trillion a year ago and accounted for 88.6 percent of the total loans disbursements.

Loans extended to the real estate sector grew faster at 16.1 percent to P1.29 trillion, while loans released to the wholesale and retail trade as well as repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles also accelerated by 24.9 percent to P1.05 trillion.

Likewise, loans extended to the manufacturing sector rose by 17.8 percent to P1.02 trillion, while loans extended to the electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply eased anew to 10.3 percent to P852.94 billion.

On the other hand, Espenilla said credit extended for household consumption further slowed down to 17.7 percent in June as releases reached P611.32 billion from a year-ago level of P519.28 billion.

This article first appeared on www.PhilStar.com