Loans by banks’ foreign currency deposit units dropped 3.9 percent in the first six months of the year to $4.62 billion from $4.81 billion the same period in 2004, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.
This is a decline of $188 million due mostly to net repayments by public sector borrowers, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said. Compared to the second quarter, FCDU loans were higher by $16 million.
In the meantime after two years of continuous growth, FCDU deposit liabilities declined to $15.728 billion or by $442 million due to maturity/withdrawals of placements in time deposits and deposits of banks’ trust units. The bulk or 93 percent of these deposits remained payable to residents.
The BSP reported that as of the period ending June, loan disbursements by FCDUs of banks amounted to $1.438 billion or $220 million higher than the previous quarter’s total.
Tetangco said about 90 percent of the loans were for trade financing requirements repayable within one year, which increased the percentage share of short-term accounts to the total loan portfolio from 29 percent in March to 34.2 percent in June.
BSP data showed principal repayments were also higher at $286 million. Overall, transactions resulted in a net disbursement of $42 million but this was partly offset by negative accounting adjustments of $26 million that included revaluation of accounts due to exchange rate movements.
Outstanding loans to private enterprises at end-June comprised more than two-thirds of the FCDU portfolio, up from about 64 percent a quarter ago, and were almost evenly split between short-term and medium to long-term accounts. Exporters and public utility enterprise had combined exposures of more than 41 percent of total.
The banking system’s FCDU base is largely composed of dollar deposits by residents.
The top five lenders have remained the same since 2001. These consist of four local commercial banks and one foreign bank branch whose combined exposures accounted for 48 percent of the entire FCDU portfolio.
