Bank loans and money supply in the Philippines continued to grow in December, but at a slower pace than in previous months as business and consumer lending moderated, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data show.
Loans extended by universal and commercial banks rose 9.2 percent to P14.35 trillion in December 2025, according to the BSP.
This followed a period of stronger expansion earlier in the year. Bank lending to residents grew 9.7 percent to P14.05 trillion, decelerating from a 10.7 percent increase in November.
Lending to nonresidents rose 8.1 percent to P303.21 billion, recovering from a 4.5-percent contraction in the previous month.
Loans for business activities increased 8.0 percent to P12.11 trillion, down from the 9.0 percent growth seen in November.
The BSP said lending increased across key industries, including real estate activities at 8.3 percent and electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply at 26.8 percent. Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles rose 10.8 percent, while financial and insurance activities grew 3.9 percent.
Consumer loan growth, which includes credit card, motor vehicle and salary loans, slowed to 21.4 percent to reach P1.93 trillion. The BSP said it continues to monitor bank loans as they are a key transmission channel of monetary policy.
Money supply, or M3, grew 7.0 percent to P20.11 trillion in December, easing from a 7.6-percent increase in November. M3 is a broad measure of money circulating in the economy and includes currency in circulation, bank deposits and other financial assets easily convertible to cash.
Domestic claims expanded 10.1 percent to P22.59 trillion, led by higher claims on both the government and private entities.
This was slower than the 10.6 percent growth recorded a month earlier. Claims on the private sector moderated from 11.1 percent to 10.1 percent, reaching P14.51 trillion amid a slowdown in bank lending to non-financial private corporations and households.
Net claims on the central government increased 10.8 percent to P6.14 trillion on higher government borrowings. Meanwhile, net foreign assets (NFAs) climbed 6.1 percent to P7.37 trillion. The BSP’s NFAs edged up by 5.3 percent to P6.50 trillion, while banks’ NFAs rose 13.0 percent to P871.88 billion.
“NFAs of banks grew primarily on account of larger holdings of foreign currency-denominated debt securities,” the BSP said.
