MANILA, Philippines—The contraction in Philippine bank lending continued for the fourth month in a row, with the amount of loans underwritten falling by the largest amount so far last March since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
In a statement, the BSP cited preliminary data showing that outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks — excluding short term deposits they made with the regulator—decreased by 4.5 percent in the third month of 2021.
The latest decline follows the 2.7-percent fall in February — a trend that began in December 2020, following eight consecutive months of weakening loan grow…
Keep on reading: Bank lending contraction enters 4th month despite liquidity spike in March