By Keisha B. Ta-asan, Reporter
THE Philippine financial system’s total resources rose at the end of April after sustained growth in banks’ deposits and loans, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
Resources of banks and nonbank financial institutions grew by 8.4% from a year earlier to P28.52 trillion.
“The higher resources of banks were due to the continued growth in deposits and loans, as well as the higher net income that adds to capitalization,” Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said in a Viber message.
Banks include universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, as well as rural and cooperative banks. Nonbank financial institutions include investment houses, finance companies, security dealers, pawnshops and lending companies.
Nonstock savings and loan associations, credit card companies, private insurance firms, the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System are also nonlenders.
Based on central bank data, banking resources increased by 9.8% year on year to P23.48 trillion as of end-April. Big banks held P22.07 trillion of total banking resources, 10% higher than a year ago.
Resources of thrift banks hit P1.01 trillion, inching up by 3.9% from a year earlier. Total resources of rural and cooperative banks increased by 10.6% to P397 billion.
On the other hand, nonbanks’ resources grew by 2% to P5.03 trillion from a year earlier.
“For the coming months, continued growth in deposits, loans and net income as the economy further reopened, as well as more capital-raising activities by some banks would lead to higher total assets and resources,” Mr. Ricafort said.
The cumulative net income of the banking system rose by 42% to P94.62 billion as of March from a year earlier, separate data from the BSP showed.
Meanwhile, outstanding loans from big banks grew by 9.7% to P10.86 trillion in April. Domestic liquidity also rose by 6.6% annually to P16.3 trillion.