MOST Philippine banks expect credit standards and overall loan demand to remain generally steady in the fourth quarter of 2026, with noticeable shifts toward stronger credit demand and more stable lending parameters.
Results of the latest Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that for the October-to-December period, 80.8 percent of respondent banks expect credit standards for enterprise loans to remain unchanged.
Similarly, 85.7 percent foresee steady standards for household loans.
Both figures are higher than the Q3 2026 results of 71.2 percent for enterprises and 77.1 percent for households, indicating a shift toward more stable lending standards.
Among banks anticipating adjustments, the bias toward credit tightening has moderated across both enterprise and household loans. A small share of banks also expects to ease their credit standards.
Respondents cited uncertainty over the economic outlook, deterioration in borrower profiles and lower risk tolerance as key factors that could lead to tighter standards.
Meanwhile, banks expect overall loan demand to remain steady in Q4 2026, with signs of stronger demand.
For enterprise loans, 69.2 percent of respondents expect demand to remain unchanged, 26.9 percent expect an increase and 3.8 percent expect a decline. Compared with Q3 2026, fewer banks expect unchanged demand, while more expect demand to increase.
The expected increase in enterprise loan demand reflects higher financing needs for inventories and accounts receivable, as well as limited access to other funding sources.
For consumer credit, banks expecting stronger household loan demand cited higher household consumption, more attractive bank financing terms and increased housing investment.
