BANKS’ outstanding foreign currency-denominated loans inched down at end-March, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said late on Monday.
Outstanding loans granted by banks’ foreign currency deposit units (FCDU) stood at $15.782 billion as of March, slipping by 0.2% from the end-December 2024 level of $15.82 billion.
Year on year, FCDU loans also declined by 1.8% from $16.072 billion.
“The outstanding loans as of end-March 2025 included $7.66 billion in new loans and $7.72 billion in loan payments received during the reference quarter,” the BSP said in a statement.
FCDUs are units of local banks or local branches of foreign banks that are authorized by the BSP to engage in transactions involving foreign currencies, including deposits and loans.
Resident and nonresident borrowers, including individuals and businesses like importers, use FCDU loans for foreign currency payables or needs.
BSP data showed that $12.182 billion or 77.2% of outstanding FCDU loans were medium- and long-term debt, or those payable in more than a year. This was down from the end-December level of $12.202 billion, which made up 77.1% of the total during that period.
Meanwhile, short-term loans totaled $3.6 billion, making up 22.8% of the end-March tally.
By borrower type, outstanding loans extended to Philippine residents were at $9.909 billion.
These loans were all extended to the private sector, the data showed. The BSP said the main resident borrowers were merchandise and service exporters ($2.44 billion or 24.6%); towing, tanker, trucking, forwarding, personal and other industries ($2.11 billion or 21.3%); and power generation companies ($1.90 billion or 19.1%).
Meanwhile, nonresidents’ outstanding loans stood at $5.872 billion as of March.
Loans granted by local banks comprised 85.8% of the total at $13.539 billion, while those extended by foreign bank branches or subsidiaries were at $2.242 billion.
Meanwhile, foreign currency deposits climbed as of March even as loans went down, the BSP said.
FCDU deposit liabilities reached $58.919 billion in the period, which the central bank said was an all-time high. This was higher than the $55.46 billion seen at end-December 2024 and the $58.613 billion recorded at end-March 2024.
This brought the overall FCDU loans-to-deposits ratio to 26.8% as of March, up from 28.5% in the previous quarter and 27.4% a year prior. — BVR