BAD loans incurred by the Philippine banking system inched up to more than P431 billion as of February this year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Preliminary central bank data showed on Tuesday that lenders’ gross nonperforming loans (NPL) ballooned to P431.26 billion at end-February, climbing by 79.76 percent from P239.27 billion a year earlier.