BSP to act vs banks charging high rates

The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), will soon institute some tough action against banks which continue to charge high lending rates despite the continued drop in benchmark T-bill rates.

According to an MB source who requested anonymity, "We’re gonna slam the banks for high interest rates."

However, the source refused to disclose exactly what action the MB would take against banks which refuse to lower their lending rates.

The rate for the bellwether 91-day T-bills, which banks use in pricing their loans, has dropped to a fresh 15-year low of 7.278 percent – lower than the overnight borrowing rate of 7.5 percent.

Based on a survey of bank lending rates by the BSP, the average lending rates range from a low of 10.68 percent to a high of 12.3615 percent. The BSP survey of bank lending rates applies to prime clients. Regular rates are even higher.

Lending rates of the 11 commercial banks range from a low of 10.25 percent to a high of 15.5 percent. The local bank offering the highest lending rate was Traders Royal Bank with rates of 14.5 percent to 15.5 percent.

Rates offered by the subsidiaries of foreign banks range from a low of 8.3125 percent to a high of 13.25 percent.

The 13 foreign banks, for their part, offered lending rates ranging from a low of 8.5 percent to a high of 12.5 percent.

The 14 universal banks, on the other hand, offered rates ranging from 8.75 percent to a high of 12.87 percent.

The Department of Finance has already ordered the government financial institution – the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines – to lower their lending rates to provide much-needed financing to spur economic activity.