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MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said credit standards tightened for loans to enterprises, but were unchanged for consumers in the first quarter of this year.
In a statement, the BSP said its Senior Bank Loan Officers' Survey showed that banks were more averse to lending to top corporations as can be gleaned from stricter loan covenants and greater use of interest rate floors.
Despite this net tightening, lenders maintained larger credit lines and afforded longer loan maturities for top corporations.
Survey respondents expect credit standards to tighten further in the next quarter.
As for households, banks have maintained credit standards for auto and personal loans since the third quarter of 2011. But standards for credit card loans have tightened even as those for housing loans eased.
Credit line sizes however have gone down, even as standards on collateral requirements, loan covenants and loan maturities eased. Having said that, the BSP noted an increase in the use of interest rate floors for housing loans.
Survey respondents expect credit standards to remain unchanged for auto and salary loans, while easing for housing and credit card loans in the next quarter.
Overall demand for loans was steady amid stable interest rates, unchanged financing terms of banks, availability of other sources of funds and steady customer financing needs, accounts receivable financing and the economic outlook of banks.
Respondents expect loan demand from both enterprises and households to increase in the next quarter in line with an improving economic outlook.
The survey involved 34 commercial banks, 19 of which responded for a response rate of 56 percent.
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