The Central Bank of the Philippines published its second-quarter 2026 Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey, showing that most banks expect lending standards to remain unchanged in the third quarter. Under the modal measure, 75.5% of respondents expect no change in standards for enterprise loans and 80.0% expect stable standards for household loans, both higher than in the previous quarter’s survey. The diffusion indexes remained positive for both segments, indicating a net tightening bias among banks expecting to change their standards, although that bias moderated. Potential drivers of tighter standards included a less favorable or more uncertain economic outlook, reduced risk tolerance and deteriorating borrower profiles. For enterprise credit demand, 64.2% of banks expect no change, 30.2% expect an increase and 5.7% expect a decline, with more banks anticipating stronger demand than in the previous survey.
Central Bank of the Philippines2026-07-30
Central Bank of the Philippines survey finds broadly stable third-quarter lending standards despite net tightening bias
The Central Bank of the Philippines found that most banks expect lending standards to remain unchanged in the third quarter of 2026, including 75.5% for enterprise loans and 80.0% for household loans. Diffusion indexes nevertheless indicate a moderated net tightening bias, while 30.2% of respondents expect enterprise loan demand to increase.