Number of households with savings fell in Q2

Only about a fifth of Filipino households managed to maintain their savings in the second quarter.

Results of a survey on family savings conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that 22.4 percent of household respondents reported to have savings in the second quarter, down from the 24.5 percent registered in the first quarter.

According to the BSP, the quarterly decline was due to the enrollment season, which forced some households, mostly from the middle- and low-income groups, to pull out their savings.

“The decrease in the number of savers may be attributed to the expected increase in education expenditures,” the BSP explained.

The BSP also noted a rise in the number of savers from the high-income group.

The survey, conducted from April 3 to 15, covered 5,884 households and had a response rate of 97.3 percent.

Survey results showed that 25.6 percent of respondents from the National Capital Region maintained their savings in the second quarter. It was lower than the 35 percent seen in the first quarter.

In the NCR, 3,036 households were surveyed. The response rate stood at 97.7 percent.

Also, 21.9 percent of respondents from areas outside the NCR had savings in the second quarter, down from the 22.8 percent recorded in the previous quarter.

Outside the National Capital Region, 2,848 households participated in the survey. The response rate stood at 96.8 percent.

The BSP started conducting the quarterly survey on Filipino household savings in the first quarter of this year. The survey is meant to help the government formulate programs to encourage Filipino families to save and invest more.

Officials acknowledged that the percentage of Filipino households with savings was relatively small. The government has been conducting education programs on financial literacy to persuade more people to save.

In particular, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been holding a series of financial literacy seminars in various parts of the country, and even abroad where there are large concentrations of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

They said OFWs and their families must learn to save to ensure their financial security, especially once their work contracts expire.

About 10 percent of Filipino households depend partly or fully on remittances sent by family members working abroad.

In the survey, 556 households had family members working abroad. Of that number, 39.4 percent had savings—down from the 42.5 percent registered in the first quarter.