Big banks March bad loans ratio down at 2.16%

THE country’s biggest banks managed to keep their bad loans ratio lower at the end of March compared with last year even with a recorded increase in lending, thanks to robust provisioning and prudent lending practices.

According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data, gross nonperforming loans (NPL) posted by universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) stood at 2.16 percent of their total loan portfolio (TLP) in March, down from 2.74 percent a year earlier, even if their lending increased during the period.