Growth of non-banks’ domestic claims eases in Q4
DOMESTIC CLAIMS of non-banks in the last quarter of the 2019 grew at a slower pace, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
Preliminary data from the BSP’s Other Financial Corporations Survey (OFCS) showed domestic claims of quasi-banks rose by 9.8% year-on-year to P6.284 billion in October to December 2019 from the P5.72 billion seen in the comparable year-ago period.
This is slower than the 14.4% pace logged in the prior quarter.
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.
The BSP said growth in domestic claims of non-bank financial institutions came on the back of an expansion in claims on other sectors, despite the decline in net claims on the central government and on depository corporations.
Net claims on the central government grew by 18.8% to P1.466 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019 but slipped by 0.4% from the prior three-month period.
Meanwhile, claims on depository corporations increased 5.2% to P1.613 billion but dipped 0.4% compared to the third-quarter level.
BSP data also showed net foreign assets (NFA) held by other financial corporations jumped 52.8% to P125.6 billion year-on-year and by 25.4% versus the prior quarter.
“This increase in NFA stemmed from the expansion in the claims on nonresidents, mostly in the form of debt securities and foreign currency deposits, and the decline in the other financial corporations’ liabilities to non-residents in the form of debt securities,” the central bank said.
Claims of OFCs on non-residents rose by 1.8% to P267.4 billion after dropping by 10.4% year-on-year in Q3 2019.
On the other hand, liabilities to non-residents plunged 21.4% to P141.8 billion year-on-year and by 7.3% from Q3 2019. — LWTN
