Page 129 - Bsp News Today

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has extended a peso rediscount loan facility amounting to P4.1 billion to a big bank to finance capital asset expenditures.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has so far approved the application of six entities as non-bank electronic money issuers after the regulator imposed a two-year moratorium on the issuance of licenses in December last year.

The country’s foreign exchange buffer thinned slightly to $106.76 billion in end-April from the revised $107.31 billion in end-March, as the government spent more to pay its foreign obligations and fund its expenditures, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Foreign banks operating in the Philippines posted a net income of P6.8 billion last year, reversing the P1 billion net loss recorded in 2020.

Credit growth quickened anew to 8.9 percent in March from 8.8 percent in February on the back of a pickup in manufacturing, real estate and consumer loans, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

BSP Bank makes $69 million profit

More Filipinos are still opting to keep their money in banks as deposits went up by 8.5 percent to P16 trillion as of end-January, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Loans extended by banks to micro, small and medium enterprises as well as to large companies, used as alternative compliance with the reserve requirement, reached over P260 billion as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continues to extend regulatory relief measures as the country gradually recovers from the impact of the pandemic.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is in talks with several banks and financial institutions for the pilot testing of the central bank digital currency in the fourth quarter.

The research unit of Australia and New Zealand Bank expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to deliver its first interest hike in June, reversing the aggressive 200-basis-point cumulative rate cuts in 2020.