What’s behind slower growth in bank loans in the Philippines

Philippine banks’ lending – especially to businesses – has been weak. A balance-sheet analysis suggests that the nation’s lenders would rather park money in yield-generating securities, and would rather extend credit to consumers than businesses.

Since 2019, the share of bank assets deployed as loans has declined, while holdings of financial instruments and other non‑loan assets have grown more prominent.

CEIC users can click through for more charts that go deep on the local banking system – including liquidity facilities operated by the central bank (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) and a breakdown of lenders’ assets.