BPI Speaks on ‘Bad Loans’ amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

BPI Reveals ‘Bad Loans’ Rate & Deposits

BPI – The Bank of the Philippine Islands spoke on the bad loans and deposits amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines now.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is undeniably very heavy on several fields – most especially the healthcare system and the economy. It rocked several healthcare systems across the globe that some even reached the point of almost collapsing.

It has been more than a year now since this coronavirus disease was declared pandemic. In the Philippines, the country remains under community quarantine measures for over a year now. In fact, Metro Manila is back under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) now amid the presence of the Delta variant.

Many businesses closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic as they were not able to meet the demands of long lockdowns and restrictions on operation. Even some essential businesses decided to operate in a reduced capacity.

The closure of several businesses, temporary or permanent, has affected a lot of households as well. Many employees lost their source of income and some of them got outstanding loans in banks and lending companies. A lot of people are left with no income amid the crisis.

Due to the situation now, even banks predicted high rates on bad loans. Meanwhile, based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the Bank of the Philippine Islands or more commonly called as BPI got a lower rate on bad loans compared to what it expected amid the COVID-19 crisis.

According to BPI president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, they expected that the rate on bad loans rise as much as 7%. Meanwhile, he said that the non-performing loans of the bank will not exceed 4% which is “under control”.

The Bank President stressed that it is a “good news” and he thinks that it is because of the fairly low interest rates and the people adjusting to the situation now. He admitted that all bankers were worried about having high NPL when the pandemic began.

With regards to the deposits, Limcaoco expressed that it continues to grow. He shared that the bank is boosting the services it offers online and it is also working with GCash now. More updates may be posted soon.

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