DOMESTIC claims of non-bank financial firms rose in the third quarter of 2019 supported by their investments and loans disbursed to the private sector, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Net foreign assets (NFA) held by these other financial corporations (OFCs) also rose in the quarter, supported by reduced debt security issuances and an increase in their deposits to non-residents.

Preliminary data from the central bank’s Other Financial Corporations Survey (OFCS) released Friday showed that domestic claims grew 14.4% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019 to P6.208 trillion. Domestic claims rose 1.5% from the P6.117 trillion in the second quarter.

“The rise in the domestic claims of the OFCs was largely on account of the OFCs’ additional investments in equity and debt securities issued by local banks and the expansion of loans extended to the private sector,” the BSP said in a statement Friday.

Net claims on the central government (CG) rose 21% year-on-year to P1.471 trillion and by 2.9% fromthe second quarter of 2019.

“This growth was due to the 2.6 % increase in the sector’s holdings of debt securities issued by the CG and the 16% decline in the OFCs’ liabilities to the CG during the quarter,” the BSP said.

Claims on depository corporations grew 21.7% year-on-year to P1.619 trillion in the three months to September. Claims grew 0.4% from the P1.613 trillion in the second quarter of 2019.

NFAs held by OFCs rose 19.5% to P100.135 billion in the third quarter. They rose 19.6% from P83.697 billion a quarter earlier.

“The upturn in the sector’s NFA balance was due to the continued reduction in the debt security issuances of OFCs to nonresidents and the rise of the sector’s deposits to nonresidents,” the BSP said.

OFCs claims on non-residents slipped by 10.4% to P253.168 billion in the third quarter of 2019 from P282.434 billion a year ago. However, it inched up by 0.4% from the P252.141 billion seen in the preceding quarter.

On the other hand, liabilities to non-residents decreased by 23% to P153.033 billion from P198.657 billion in the third quarter of 2018. Likewise, it dipped by 9.1% from the P168.444 billion traced in the April to June 2019 period.

The study took in individual financial statements from some 117 insurance firms, 25 holding companies, six government financial institutions, five investment companies, and two other financial intermediaries.

It also evaluated consolidated financial statements from trust institutions, three trust corporations, 18 financing firms, 13 securities dealers, four authorized agent banks’ foreign exchange firms, 11 investment houses, 1,013 pawnshops, five credit card companies, a lending investor, and an offshore banking unit.

The OFCS is an analytical survey of the assets and liabilities of the OFC sector. It uses standardized report forms as required by the International Monetary Fund.

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