THE foreign currency loans extended by Philippine banks inched up in the third quarter from second the quarter as disbursements exceeded repayments, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said over the weekend.
Outstanding loans granted by foreign currency deposit units (FCDU) of banks amounted to $15.5 billion as of end-September 2023, up by 0.7 percent from the end-June 2023 level of $15.4 billion.
Meanwhile, outstanding FCDU loans decreased by about 1 percent year-on-year from the end-September 2022 level of $15.7 billion.
The maturity profile of the FCDU loan portfolio remained predominantly medium- to long-term for those payable over a term of more than one year, which comprised 77.6 percent of total, slightly lower than 78.3 percent from the previous quarter.
FCDU loans granted to residents reached $9.4 billion or 60.6 percent of total outstanding FCDU loans, of which majority went to the following sector/industries: power generation companies ($2.4 billion or 25.3 percent); merchandise and service exporters ($2.3 billion or 24.5 percent); and towing, tanker, trucking, forwarding, personal and other industries (US$1.3 billion or 13.5 percent).
Gross disbursements in the third quarter amounted to $17.1 billion, higher by 18.8 percent than the previous quarter’s $14.4 billion mainly due to the increase in funding requirements of a foreign bank branch affiliate.
Loan repayments in the third quarter of $17 billion were 17.4 percent higher than previous quarter’s $14.4 billion.
Meanwhile, FCDU deposit liabilities reached an all-time high of $51.8 billion as of end-September 2023, up by 5.7 percent from the end-June 2023 level of $49 billion.
The bulk of these deposits ($50.4 billion or 97.3 percent) continued to be owned by residents, essentially constituting an additional buffer to the country’s gross international reserves. FCDU deposit liabilities also increased $6 billion or 13.2 percent from the end-September 2022 level of $45.8 billion.
