MANILA, Philippines—After slowing down for eight straight months in 2020, bank lending finally contracted in the final month of last year as the COVID-19 pandemic made banks even more gun-shy about releasing new loans.
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said initial data showed outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks—excluding short term deposits with the central bank—declining by 0.7 percent in December after increasing by 0.5 percent in November.
This marked the first time that bank lending contracted in the country since 2008.
“Overall, lending remained tepid as banks continued to be risk-averse amid the ongoing pandemic,” the central bank…
Keep on reading: Bank lending contracts for first time in 12 years last December