In December 2020, loans outstanding (net of reverse repurchase agreements) of the Philippine banking system declined by 1.3 percent to P10.1 trillion from P10.2 trillion in December 2019. The weak bank lending, largely a result of the pandemic, was already observed earlier in November 2020 when it fell by 0.2 percent. This was the first time that the growth in loans from the Philippine banking system contracted after more than 13 years of positive growth, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
