BSP clears P71T in transactions

Bank transactions that passed through the clearinghouse system of the central bank jumped by over 40 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, as growth of the economy during the period required more bank-facilitated payments.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that transactions cleared through the Philippine Payments and Settlement System (PhilPaSS) amounted to P71 trillion in the first quarter, up by 42 percent from only P50 trillion in the same period last year.

The figure bolstered expectations that the economy’s growth in 2011 would be faster than that of last year.

Total transactions that passed through PhilPaSS in 2010 amounted to P206.6 trillion, up by almost 10 percent from the P188.5 trillion posted in 2009.

PhilPaSS is where bank transactions, such as payments using checks, remittances and foreign-currency trade, are cleared.

The BSP said the growth in PhilPaSS transactions was anticipated, since it is a consequence of a growing economy.

The government earlier reported that the economy, measured in terms of gross domestic product, grew by 4.9 percent in the first quarter of 2011 from that of last year.