Banks’ resources up to P7.07T

The resources of the country’s banking sector grew further in May, bolstered mainly by rising deposits that mirrored the improving savings capacity of Filipino households and enterprises.

According to the central bank, the combined resources of universal, commercial, thrift and rural banks in the country amounted to P7.07 trillion as of the end of May this year, rising by nearly 7 percent from P6.61 trillion a year ago.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said individuals and corporations were placing more deposits in banks, mainly due to rising income and confidence of the public in the banking sector. The bulk of the resources were owned by universal and commercial banks. These amounted to P6.32 trillion, up by 7.7 percent from P5.87 trillion a year ago.

With their growing resources, universal and commercial banks were urged by the government to help the economy grow by funding big-ticket, public infrastructure projects being pushed by the government under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework.

Under the PPP, the government invites private corporations to invest in the projects and the banks to provide the financing.

The thrift banking sub-sector accounted for P580 billion of the total resources as of end-May. This was higher by 3.9 percent from P558 billion in the same period last year.

Lastly, the rural banking group registered P178.21 billion in resources, about the same as the level a year ago.

Earlier, the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), the umbrella organization of universal and commercial banks, said there was strong interest among its members in lending more to individual borrowers and enterprises.

BAP president Aurelio Montinola III had said the banking sector had a favorable outlook on its financial performance and ability to expand credit largely because of a generally well-behaved economy.

The central bank earlier reported that the outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks in the country amounted to P2.54 trillion as of end-May, up by 18.8 percent from P2.14 trillion as of the same period a year ago.

The credit growth rate in May was the fastest since April 2009.