First qtr bank deposits up 9.5% at P4.6T – PDIC

Filipinos saved portions of their money, boosting bank deposits by 9.5 percent in the first quarter of the year, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. said Thursday. The combined deposits recorded by universal, commercial, thrift, rural, and cooperative banks amounted to P4.6 trillion as of end-March, or P400 billion more than the P4.2 trillion a year earlier, PDIC president Jose Nograles said in a statement. "The numbers are remarkable despite the difficult financial landscape in recent years," he said. Individual depositors accounted for 59.4 percent of total deposits, with 27.3 percent from private companies and 10.4 percent from government institutions. Demand deposits rose by 18.9 percent and term deposits by 14.1 percent. The deposits in universal and commercial banks went up by 9.2 percent to P4.06 trillion, Nograles said. Those in thrift banks increased by 6.7 percent to P423 billion. Despite several rural banks having been padlocked, total deposits held by rural banks surged by 12.2 percent to P119 billion, the PDIC chief said. Rural banks closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas were the Apex Rural Bank Inc. in Bulacan; Rural Bank of Laoac Inc. and Bani Rural Bank Inc. in Pangasinan; Rural Bank of Ivisan Inc. in Capiz; Eurocredit Community Bank Inc. in Cagayan; BMS Rural Bank Inc. in Southern Tagalog; Rural Bank of Ozamis City Inc.; Coop Bank of Camarines Sur; Coop Bank of Nueva Ecija Inc.; and Rural Bank of Bangued in Abra. Depositors in the countryside continued to trust rural banks with their hard-earned money despite the closure of several banks this year, the PDIC said. Deposits insured by the PDIC amounted to P1.4 trillion, following the increase in maximum deposit insurance coverage to P500,000, Nograles said. The insurer insured only 30 percent of bank deposits during the first quarter. Total resources of banks operating in the Philippines grew by 9.4 percent in the first quarter, as the country's banking industry survived the global financial crisis and continued to remain resilient despite the current debt crisis in Europe, according to the latest BSP data. Assets of the banking sector amounted to P6.416 trillion as of end-March, up by P551 billion from P5.865 trillion a year earlier. The assets of universal and commercial banks went up by 9.5 percent to P5.684 trillion from P5.191 trillion in the same comparable period. On the other hand, the assets of thrift and savings banks inched up by 5.4 percent to P553.8 billion from P525.5 billion. In a separate report, the BSP said that the number of head offices dropped to 785 in 2009 from 818 in 2008 indicating the continued consolidation of banks as weaker players dropped out of the industry. By banking classification, the central bank added that head offices of banks consisted of 38 universal and commercial banks, 73 thrift banks, and 674 rural banks.—VS, GMANews.TV