RP bank lending recovers in December

RP bank lending recovers in December

MANILA: Lending activities in the Philippines banking system
perked up in December as non-performing loan levels fell, the
central bank said Thursday.

A 3.7 percent loan growth from a month earlier to 1.625
billion pesos (US$31.7 million), along with a 25 basis-point cut
in central bank overnight rates effective Friday, boosted hopes
of improved economic activity for the remainder of the year.

A central bank statement said the non-performing loans (NPL)
ratio of commercial banks slid by 1.41 percentage points from a
month earlier to 17.35 percent in December -- though the ratio is
still 2.25 points above the December 2000 level of 15.10 percent.

The system's total NPLs fell by 4.1 percent from the previous
month to 281.9 billion pesos ($5.5 billion), it said. -- AFP