Philippine central bank loans to govt, banks reach R117B

The central bank of the Philippines lent R117 billion to the government and banks as of end-April, up 11.4 percent year-on-year.

BSP’s special liquidity facility or emergency loans amounted to over R3 billion. Emergency loans are granted at “normal periods” for the purpose of assisting a bank under financial pressures, so long as the bank applying for the facility was not insolvent and has the assets to secure advances.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ loan portfolio also includes rediscounting loans, overnight clearing line, and loans to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and the National Government.

PDIC is BSP’s biggest borrower with loans amounting to slightly over P100 billion. These are original loans granted to the PDIC since 1993 and include interests and other balances.

Other BSP-backed PDIC loans were the P1.175 billion extended to Keppel Monet Bank in 1997; the P7.64 billion to Philippine Bank of Communications in 2004; P1.274 billion for Planters Development Bank; P23.9 billion for Philippine National Bank in 2001; and P20.5 billion for United Coconut Planters Bank in 2003. The last one was a P3 billion financial assistance to closed bank G7 Bank Inc. worth P3 billion in 2008.