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By Maricel E. Burgonio, Reporter
CREDIT card receivables as well
as auto loans dipped in March in line with weaker consumer spending
due to higher prices of oil and other commodities, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Monday.
In a statement, the BSP said
banks’ card receivables slipped 0.6 percent to P115.4 billion in
March this year from the end-December level. Receivables, however,
went up by 19.7 percent compared with P96.430 billion in March last
year.
The BSP said universal and
commercial banks accounted for 81.1 percent or P93.6 billion of the
total receivables, while credit card subsidiaries held 14.8 percent
or P17.1 billion. Non-linked thrift banks carried the remaining P4.7
billion on their balance sheets.
Of the total receivables, the
current amount reached P103.660 billion while past dues amounted to
P11.757 billion.
Price pressures increased in the
first quarter, with inflation rising to 5.6 percent from 3.3 percent
in the previous quarter.
Banks’ loan portfolio amounted
to P2.137 trillion in March, higher than the P2.130 trillion at
end-December and the P1.925 trillion in March last year.
Credit card receivables comprised
5.4 percent of lenders’ total portfolio, higher than the 5 percent
in March last year.
Non-performing receivables,
however, dropped by 28.8 percent to P11.8 billion compared with the
last quarter and by 14.2 percent compared with a year ago.
BSP data also showed that auto
loans decreased by 14.2 percent to P73.9 billion in March compared
with P86.191 billion in December last year. The latest figure also
dropped by 1 percent compared with P74.7 billion in March last year.
The BSP said the substantial
decline in auto loans stemmed from the change in financial reporting
of auto loans under the new Financial Reporting Package.
Thrift banks took the biggest
slice of the auto loan market at 61 percent while universal and
commercial banks held 37.3 percent. Subsidiary non-bank financial
institutions accounted for the remaining 1.7 percent.
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