Financial system assets grew to P15.8T in H1

The domestic financial system’s total resources further increased to P15.8 trillion at the end of the first semester, the highest level to date, amid a growing economy.

The latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed that the combined resources of banks and nonbanks in the country as of June further grew from P15.6 trillion a month ago and P15.5 trillion a quarter ago.

The total resources of the financial system at end-June also exceeded the P14.5 trillion posted a year ago.

Total resources of banks stood at P12.8 trillion in June, up from P12.6 trillion in the previous and P11.5 trillion in the same month last year.

Assets, including amortization, depreciation and allowance for probable losses of universal and commercial banks, hit P11.6 trillion at end-June, while those of thrift banks reached P1.1 trillion.

Rural banks’ total resources remained steady at P220 billion.

The total resources of nonbanks, meanwhile, amounted P2.98 trillion at the end of the first six months, higher than the P2.95 trillion recorded during the same six-month period of 2015.

Nonbanks include BSP-supervised investment houses, finance companies, investment firms, securities dealers and brokers, pawnshops, lending investors, nonstock savings and loan associations, venture capital corporations and credit card companies, as well as state-run insurance firms such as the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System. Ben O. de Vera