Bank deposits grow to P9.4 T

MANILA, Philippines - More Filipinos continue to entrust their money in banks as deposits went up 10.8 percent in the first quarter amid the money laundering scandal that rocked the country’s financial system last February.

Data from the state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) showed bank deposits reached P9.39 trillion from January to March, P916 billion higher versus the P8.48 trillion recorded in the same period last year.

PDIC said peso deposits increased 10.9 percent to P7.79 trillion from P7.03 trillion, while foreign currency deposits owned by residents grew 9.9 percent to P1.59 trillion from P1.45 trillion.

Statistics showed the number of peso and foreign currency deposit accounts increased 7.5 percent to 51.85 million in the first quarter from 48.23 million in the same quarter last year.

Earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported the total resources of Philippine banks went up 10.1 percent to P12.52 trillion in the first quarter from a year-ago level of P11.37 million.

The total resources of big banks or universal and commercial banks increased 9.8 percent to P11.25 trillion from P10.24 billion, while that of mid-sized banks or thrift banks surged 16.7 percent to P1.05 trillion from P899.3 billion.

On the other hand, total assets of small banks or rural banks fell 9.7 percent to P213 billion in the first quarter from P236 billion in the same quarter of last year with the exit of more weak players in the industry.

Last year, total resources of the Philippine financial system increased 7.4 percent to P12.4 trillion from P11.5 trillion in 2014. As a percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the country’s banking resources stood at 93.4 percent.