Philippine bank lending up 20.5% in September

Lending by major banks in the Philippines grew by 20.5 percent to 4.2 trillion pesos (93.71 billion U.S. dollars) in September as more loans were extended for production activities that support the domestic economy, the local central bank said Friday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Philippine central bank or BSP) said lending growth in September was faster than the 20.1 percent hike seen in August.
BSP data showed that loans for production activities -- which made up 90.4 percent of the total loan portfolio -- rose by 18.7 percent on year to 3.74 trillion pesos (83.38 billion U.S. dollars) . The bulk of the funds went into real estate; manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; electricity, gas and water and financial intermediation.
Consumer loans also climbed 17.7 percent on year to 320.81 billion pesos (7.14 billion U.S. dollars) in September. Enditem