MANILA, Philippines — Dollar denominated loans from Philippine banks in the first quarter of 2021 declined by a tenth from their level in the same period in 2020 as borrowers repaid debts and stayed away from new ones.
In a statement, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said that as of end-March 2021, outstanding loans granted by Foreign Currency Deposit Units [FCDU] of banks stood at $16.3 billion.
This marked an annual decrease of $1.9 billion, or 10.6 percent, from the end-March 2020 level of $18.3 billion.
On a quarterly basis, the latest figure was also lower by $315 million, or by 1.9 percent, from the end-December 2020 level of $16.7 billion, as p…
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