Domestic liquidity, or M3, valued at P16.8 trillion grew 7 percent last November from an 8.1 percent expansion in October, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, or BSP, revealed.

Domestic liquidity refers to savings, deposits and unsecured debts.

Given seasonal factors, money supply decreased by 0.3 percent month-on-month.

Claims on residents in November grew 9.6 percent against a 10.2 percent growth in October.

This included claims on the private sector which rose by 8.2 percent from 7.6 percent, driven by increased bank lending to non-financial private corporations and households.

Net gov’t claims down

However, net claims on the central government slowed to 17.2 percent from 19.1 percent, following lower deposits kept with the BSP by the national government.

Meanwhile, the BSP’s net foreign assets in peso terms grew by 3.2 percent from 2.1 percent.

The BSP reported banks’ NFA, on the other hand, decreased due their costlier payables.

Data from HSBC Global Research show the Philippines posted the highest year-on-year inflation rate climbing to 8 percent last year, compared to Thailand’s 6 percent and Malaysia’s 4 percent.

At the same time, the Philippine savings rate fell to about 20 percent of the gross domestic product last year from 27 percent between 2016 and 2019.

While such rate declined across Southeast Asian economies during the period, Singapore registered a much higher level at around 40 percent and Indonesia at 30 percent.