Philippines: BMI research sees steady 17% loan growth in 2017 – 13 Jul 2017

  • BMI Research said credit growth in the Philippines would remain supportive of the robust economic growth outlook over the coming years. The research arm of the Fitch Group said bank lending in the country would grow 17% in 2017 and by an average of 13.6% until 2021.
  • Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed loans extended by banks grew 18.7% y/y to PHP6.32tr in May 17. Strong demand for funds to bankroll the expansion program of corporate and individual borrowers continued to boost bank lending in the first five months.
  • Statistics showed lending for production activities rose 17.6% y/y to PHP5.59 tr in end-May 17. This accounted for 89.4% of the loans disbursed by Philippine banks. In terms of assets, BMI Research said the country’s banking sector booked an average growth of 13.2%, the fastest expansion since 4Q14.
  • Economic managers through the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) have retained the GDP growth target at 6.5 – 7.5% in 2017 from 6.9%in 2016 despite the slowdown in 1Q17.
  • The research unit said the country’s GDP growth would slow down over the next two years due to unfavorable base effects from the election spending in 2016.

External Link : http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/07/13/1718936/bmi-research-sees-steady-17-loan-growth-year

13-Jul-2017