MANILA, Feb. 9 -- Bank lending of universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) maintained its growth rate in December last year while domestic liquidity grew at a slower rate.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) late Thursday showed that U/KBs' outstanding loans, excluding those placed in the central bank's reverse repurchase facility, grew by 7 percent, the same rate of increase as in November 2023.

BSP data showed that outstanding loans issued by U/KBs amounted to PHP11.7 trillion from PHP10.9 trillion in December 2022.

Outstanding loans to residents went up by 7.3 percent in December from 7.4 percent in the previous month, while outstanding loans to non-residents decreased by 2.8 percent in December from a decline of 5....