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