Banks’ deposit base up 7.9%

Bank deposits in the country maintained a healthy growth pace in the first half of the year which, monetary officials said, could be attributed to rising household incomes.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that peso-denominated deposits held by banks reached P4.1 trillion in the first semester, up by 7.89 percent from P3.8 trillion a year ago.

“The continued growth in deposits reflected the sustained confidence of depositors in the banking system,” the BSP said in its “Report on Economic and Financial Developments” released Monday.

The rise in deposits was seen across all segments—savings, time and demand deposits—reflecting increased savings by both the household and corporate sectors.

Deposits account for about half of the total resources of the banking sector. Monetary officials said bank-lending was expected to continue growing over the near term given the sector’s rising resources.

Based on earlier reports by the central bank, the combined resources of banks in the country hit P7.7 trillion as of the end of June, up by 4.9 percent from P7.34 trillion in the same period last year.

Despite growing deposits, the BSP admitted that accessibility of banking services remained a problem particularly in remote areas in the country.

The growing deposits, it said, were accounted for mainly by households and corporate accounts in urban areas. Several remote areas remained unserved or underserved by banks.

Results of a recently published BSP study showed that eight out of 10 Filipinos did not have bank accounts.