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DEPOSITS with the country’s foreign currency deposit units (FCDU)
increased last year due to the growth in both resident and
nonresident placements, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
BSP data showed that FCDU deposit liabilities
grew $354 million, or 2 percent to $18.26 billion compared with
$17.905 billion in 2006.
BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said total
FCDU loans, however, declined by 11.1 percent year on year to $3.5
billion. But compared with the end-June level, borrowings from
banks’ FCDUs expanded by 8.5 percent from $3.3 billion.
“FCDU loans declined by $441 million due to
larger loan repayments versus new disbursements,” Tetangco said.
He said repayments include prepayments by BSP of
$616 million in outstanding debt, and by the Philippine National Oil
Co.-Energy Development Corp. of $116 million of its liabilities.
An FCDU is a unit of a domestic bank or local
branch of a foreign lender authorized by the BSP to engage in
foreign currency-denominated transactions such as accepting deposits
and issuing loans.
New loans granted during the third quarter as
year exceeded the previous quarter’s total by $337 million.
Commodity and service exporters accounted for 22
percent of the new borrowings, followed by producers and
manufacturers, including oil companies with a 19-percent share.
More than half or 51 percent of the FCDU loan
portfolio had medium to long-term maturities and mostly lent out to
the private sector.
About 82 percent of outstanding FCDU loans went
to Philippine residents.
-- Chino S. Leyco
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