06.29.2012 As of end-March 2012, outstanding loans granted by Foreign Currency Deposit Units (FCDUs) of banks amounted to US$7.2 billion, reflecting an increase of US$174 million (2.5 percent) from the end-December 2011 level of US$7.1 billion. Loan transactions resulted in net loan disbursements of US$150 million (excess of disbursements over repayments) due to the better than expected, broad-based economic growth of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Year-on-year, an expansion of 31.0 percent (US$1.7 billion) in the loan portfolio was noted.
The maturity profile of outstanding FCDU loans was as follows: medium- to long-term (MLT) loans [or those payable over a term of more than one (1) year] represented 60.5 percent of total, while short-term (ST) accounts [or those with original maturities of up to one (1) year] represented the 39.5 percent balance.
Loans to resident borrowers (mainly from the private sector) reached US$5.9 billion and represented about 80.9 percent of the total portfolio.
Gross disbursements during the quarter amounted to US$3.5 billion with about 86.4 percent having short-term maturities. Major beneficiary sectors were the following: producers/manufacturers, financial services and oil refining.
FCDU deposit liabilities increased to US$25.0 billion or by 3.5 percent from end-December 2011. The bulk of these deposits (97.7 percent) continued to be held by residents. The overall loans-to-deposits ratio stood at 28.9 percent, slightly lower than the 29.2 percent as of December 2011 due to the higher growth of deposit liabilities in the first quarter compared to FCDU loans.
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