MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said bank lending grew in July but at a slower pace amid high interest rates.
The BSP said preliminary data indicated that outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks expanded by 7.7 percent year-on-year in July from 7.8 percent in June.
"On a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis, outstanding universal and commercial bank loans, net of RRPs [reverse repurchase placements], rose by 0.6 percent, similar with the previous month," the central bank said.
The BSP added that loans to residents, net of RRPs, went up by 7.7 percent in July from 7.9 percent in June.
Outstanding loans for production activities increased by 6.2 in July after rising by 6.3 percent in the previous month, while consumer loans to residents grew by 22.6 percent in July from 23.7 percent in June, driven mainly by the increase in credit card and motor vehicle loans.
The BSP said growth in bank lending continued to ease in line with the prevailing tight monetary policy stance.