Bank assets up to P7.073T

MANILA, Philippines - The local banking industry reported a 7.1 percent growth in assets in the first five months of the year as more and more Filipinos save more due to their strong confidence in the financial system, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

The assets of the country’s banking sector reached P7.073 trillion as of end-May this year or P1.097 trillion more than the P6.606 trillion resources booked as of end-May last year.

The bank regulator said bank deposits continue to fuel the growth in the industry’s total resources reflecting sustained depositor confidence in the country’s banking system.

Assets of universal and commercial banks accounted for about 89 percent of the total resources while thrift, savings, and rural banks cornered the remaining 11 percent.

The BSP reported that resources of universal and commercial banks went up by 7.8 percent to P6.314 trillion in the first five months of the year from P5.87 trillion in the same period last year.

On the other hand, resources of thrift banks improved by 3.6 percent to P580 billion as of end-May this year from P558.2 billion as of end-May last year.

The total number of banks operating in the Philippines went down by 33 to 746 in the first quarter of the year from 779 in the same quarter last year after the BSP stepped up its campaign against problematic banks while major players in the banking industry continued to consolidate.

Data showed that the number of universal and commercial banks was steady at 38 while the number of thrift banks was also unchanged at 73.

However, the number of rural banks decreased to 635 in the first three months of the year compared to 667 in the same period last year and 647 as of end-December due primarily to the closure of weaker banks.

Earlier, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said a stress test conducted by the central bank showed that banks operating in the Philippines are well capitalized to survive the downgrade made by Standard and Poor’s on the triple A credit rating of the US.

Tetangco said results of the test showed that the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of Philippine banks would stay above the central bank’s minimum requirement of 10 percent and Basel Accord’s eight percent despite the latest crisis that hit the US.

“Now we have conducted certain assessment or stress test on how this will going to affect Philippines banks and the results show that the banks here are fairly resilient and will not be adversely affected by an increase in spreads for instance. There, of course, will be some effects but it is unlikely that this is going to be very significant,” the BSP chief added.