Manila: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said most banks are expected to maintain their credit standards in the fourth quarter of the year. Results of the Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey (SLOS) released Monday showed that a higher percentage of banks expect lending standards to remain unchanged for businesses and households.

According to Philippines News Agency, the SLOS consists of questions on loan officers’ perceptions relating to the overall credit standards of their respective banks, as well as to factors affecting the supply of and demand for loans to both enterprises and households. Lending standards refer to the rules banks use when giving loans-like interest rates, loan size, collateral, loan conditions, and repayment terms.

The BSP said a total of 58 banks responded to the survey. For business loans, 86 percent of surveyed banks expect that they will likely maintain their lending standards, up from 78.9 percent in the third quarter. The rest of the respondents are split between easing and tightening.

For household loans, survey results showed that 87.5 percent of banks expect to maintain lending standards, up from 77.5 percent in the previous quarter. The BSP said around 10 percent expect to tighten standards, while 2.5 percent may ease them.

Survey results further showed that in the fourth quarter of 2025, 73.7 percent of banks expect business loan demand to remain steady, slightly down from 75.4 percent in the third quarter. In terms of demand for household loans, 73.7 percent of banks expect loan demand to remain steady, slightly down from 75.4 percent in the third quarter.