Philippine banks’ January bad loan ratio climbs

PHILIPPINE banks’ bad loan ratio worsened in January amid elevated interest rates, according to the central bank.

The industry’s bad loan ratio quickened to 3.44% from 3.23% in December, according to data posted on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) website.

Bad loans rose by 2.61% to P460.76 billion from a month earlier and by 13.73% a year ago.

The loan portfolio of Philippine banks fell by 3.46% to P13.38 trillion at the end of January from a month earlier and rose by 8.36% from a year ago. — BMDC