Loans of foreign currency deposit units down

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Officer-In-Charge Chuchi G. Fonacier said on Saturday that as of end-June 2018, outstanding loans granted by Foreign Currency Deposit Units (FCDU) of banks stood at US$15.7 billion, lower by $690 million (4.2 percent) from the endMarch 2018 level of $16.4 billion as principal repayments exceeded disbursements.

The maturity mix of the loan portfolio remained biased towards medium- to long-term debt [or those payable over a term of more than one year, which represented 75.6 percent of total.

The bulk of outstanding loans went to the following resident industries: towing, tanker, trucking and forwarding

(24.6 percent); merchandise and service exporters (20.0 percent); public utility firms (10.0 percent); producers/manufacturers, including oil companies (4.0 percent).

Gross disbursements during the reference quarter reached $14.6 billion and were 6.0 percent lower than the previous quarter’s figure. In contrast, loan repayments were higher by 4.9 percent, thus, resulting in overall net principal repayments of $676 million.

FCDU deposit liabilities likewise decreased by $456 million to $37.9 billion from last quarter’s $38.4 billion level, with the bulk (97.1 percent) continuing to be held by residents; these essentially constitute an additional buffer to the country’s gross international reserves. /