Bangko Sentral: Dollar, peso export credits up 75% 

Banks continue to draw from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas dollar and peso rediscount facility for exporters which rose 75 percent in February year-on-year, central bank data released Monday showed. 

 

According to the central bank, dollar draw downs under the Exporters Dollar and Yen Rediscount Facility rose 72.4 percent to $34.3 million as of end-February 2013 from $19.9 million in the same period last year.

 

Credit was drawn by seven commercial banks, and benefited 20 exporters. Banks did not tap the yen facility, the central bank said. 

 

Rediscounted loans allow banks to meet short-term liquidity needs using their clients’ promissory notes as collateral.

 

Commercial, thrift and rural banks took out P8.102 billion—under the peso rediscount facility—as of end-February, up by 75 percent from the P4.630 billion. 

 

Of the peso loans, 86.3 percent went to commercial credits, 1.7 percent to agricultural and industrial credits, and 12 percent to other credits for capital expenditures.

 

Loan rates for the export dollars was 0.20370 percent a year, and 0.12571 percent for the yen loans. Both were based on the London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor. 

 

Rate for the peso facility was pegged at the policy rate of 3.5 percent, a record low set last October. — SOA/VS, GMA News