MANILA, Philippines - More banks borrowed from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ rediscount facility in January to meet their funding needs.
In a report, the central bank said availments of thrift banks under the peso rediscount facility surged 69.4 percent to P61 million in January from P36 million in the same month last year.
The bulk or 84.3 percent of these borrowings went to commercial credits, while the remaining 15.7 percent were channeled to housing and permanent working capital loans.
The rediscount facility allows banks to borrow from the BSP to meet their short-term liquidity needs. Banks use their clients’ promissory notes as collateral when tapping this facility.
Central bank data also showed there were no availments under the dollar and yen rediscount facilities for exporters last month.
In the same period last year, the BSP recorded a $200,000 loan under the dollar rediscount facility that benefitted one exporter.
Despite the increase in the availments under the peso rediscount facility, banks’ liquidity levels remained adequate, even giving them enough buffer to guard against external shocks.
Latest BSP data showed universal, commercial, thrift and rural banks increased their resources by 15 percent to P10.84 trillion as of September last year from P9.46 trillion in the same period in 2013.
These resources are made up of deposits, profits, and retained earnings, among others, and the growth in the figure shows the banks’ ability to service their clients’ loans.
Universal and commercial banks accounted for P9.77 trillion of the total resources as of September, while thrift banks held P866.3 billion. Rural banks, meanwhile, had P206.9 billion of the resources during the period.